Small Hive Beetle? oh no!

[jeanne hansen]

While inspecting hives last week, I noticed one round, brown beetle about the size of a Ladybug (not those big Asian ones; smaller)

 

My hands were full, but I chased it with my hive tool into the grass.  It ran FAST!

The week before I had seen a "raspberry beetle" in a hive - a few millimeters big, black with two white spots, the kind that live on my raspberries.  Thus, I know that not EVERY beetle in a hive is a small hive beetle.

Paul Oliphant mentioned that he also thought he saw a small hive beetle.  Oh, joy!

Thanks!
Jeanne Hansen
824 Jacobson Ave
Madison, WI 53714
608-244-5094

[Paul Zelenski]

I have seen A LOT of hive beetles this year, when I have seen none in other years. I don't know if they just got shipped in with the migratory guys this year or if they are becoming established. 

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[James]

I hate to say it but I think they're getting established.  Beekeepers in MN and WI used to be kind of smug that winter would keep us beetle free.  But they're fairly well situated in MN and I've been seeing them pretty steady for the last 5 years or so.  Never the horror stories you see with them down south.  And in most years, a healthy hive will keep them at bay with little need for intervention.  But you see them here and there.  I thought last year was kind of bad.  They do best in weak hives, and I noticed them worse in some late nucs I made in July.  I don't lose sleep over them, but its something to keep an eye on.  And I wouldn't totally blame the migratory guys.  Some of the worse cases I've seen were in nucs and packages from a pretty well regarded supplier.  It would be interesting to know the percentage of hives that have them.  I bet it's a lot more than you think.  

[Matthew Hennek]

They are definitely coming in on nucs. 2 years ago I bought 2 nucs from Honey Beeware and they both had SHB. I trapped them out and they never got established and haven't seen any since.

While I enjoy the mild winters we've been having like last year's, hopefully this winter will be cold enough to kill off a lot of the SHB. Probably won't kill them all since they cluster with the bees but maybe it will at least slow them down a bit.