MuswellMetro
Queen Bee
checked ours today, they are thin 4mm ,provided by FERA,(same as a thornes yellow monitor varroa board but black)
Small Hive Beetle & the SBI
- Thread starter tonybloke
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checked ours today, they are thin 4mm ,provided by FERA,(same as a thornes yellow monitor varroa board but black)
BeeJayBee
Queen Bee
Okay, so I was mistaken, but there really is no need to get so angry!
The Drone Ranger
House Bee
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Here the ground gets frozen solid whether we get snow or not.
Nice in Summer though long days etc.
Come Winter its dark early and you wonder what the sun looks like
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itma
Queen Bee
False accusations of untruthfulness are pretty much guaranteed to anger me.
I'd like to thank you for your apology.
MuswellMetro
Queen Bee
So if my research thermometer i have in the shed goes below 246.15 Degrees K then it will be a UK record
Getting back onto the subject matter i have been researching why 4mm correx and not a larger size as the SHB appears only just to fit
However this appears to be the reason why
why it is 4mm and not larger,?
The concept is to trap Aethina tumida and they move like grease lightening
so it is very difficult for the bees to kill them but they do chase and harass them, so the Aethina tumida runs away and hides in the correx, the bees corner them and guard the entrance of the correx and confine the Aethina tumida in the correx or where ever they hide
BUT Aethina tumida has a defense, that defense is to mimic the honey bee drone movements of antenna and mouth parts that stimulate feeding and that feeding is an automatic reflex of the Corpora Allata , therefore Aethina tumida gets fed honey from the worker crop doesnot die of hunger whilebeing guarded and the Aethina tumida escapes when the workers get bored
so have you worked out now why it is 4mm and not 6 mm, the answer is that the 4mm correx mean the varroa cannot turn around and therefore they either die or are trapped as they cannot trick the bees to feed them, so you can knock them out onto a flat surface and count them
Getting back onto the subject matter i have been researching why 4mm correx and not a larger size as the SHB appears only just to fit
However this appears to be the reason why
why it is 4mm and not larger,?
The concept is to trap Aethina tumida and they move like grease lightening
so it is very difficult for the bees to kill them but they do chase and harass them, so the Aethina tumida runs away and hides in the correx, the bees corner them and guard the entrance of the correx and confine the Aethina tumida in the correx or where ever they hide
BUT Aethina tumida has a defense, that defense is to mimic the honey bee drone movements of antenna and mouth parts that stimulate feeding and that feeding is an automatic reflex of the Corpora Allata , therefore Aethina tumida gets fed honey from the worker crop doesnot die of hunger whilebeing guarded and the Aethina tumida escapes when the workers get bored
so have you worked out now why it is 4mm and not 6 mm, the answer is that the 4mm correx mean the varroa cannot turn around and therefore they either die or are trapped as they cannot trick the bees to feed them, so you can knock them out onto a flat surface and count them
Resurrecting an old grievance? tut, tut.
Back to the topic of SHB .....
For a number of reasons, the traps are being used less. I was chatting with my son in law this weekend and he mentioned the latest treatment in Australia, other than siting hives on hardstanding is 'Chuck cloth' used as a quilt over the top bars. From his description it sounds like J cloth, apparently the bees can walk on it but the beetles get snagged up. He doubted whether they would find the climate favourable in the UK.
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SBAi has news of a 9th infested hive and an admission that it might be difficult to contain the outbreak. They haven't identified the original source of the beetle in the region but there is a theory that it arrived from Egypt.
itma
Queen Bee
Old? Less than 24 hours old …
The thing that struck me about the Italian reports was that beetles were found in hives with traps, but not always in the traps.
While the traps might have some (small?) use in limiting the things, they don't seem to be very sensitive detectors - which is what we are being encouraged to use them for.
Do we have a more sensitive detector? - even if it is a bit more complicated than a scrap of black correx?
The ocular orbs?
MuswellMetro
Queen Bee
Agree the traps do seem rather a heath Robinson approach and i suspect would soon be abandoned for more hi tech traps
Perhaps something similar to the cider vinegar/mineral oil traps http://www.clemson.edu/psapublishing/pages/entom/eb160.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgv8bMrotX0 demonstrated by Dr Hood who is a distant relative of mine
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From what he was saying, the cloths do a better job with no risk of harm to the bees.
thebeeman
New Bee
Part of a statement issued today via the Government website.
Could the SHB survive in the UK?
Yes it could. The Small hive beetle is well able to survive even in the colder climates of North America, such as Minnesota and Wisconsin. It has also reached Canada. Studies in the USA show that the adult beetle can survive during winter within the winter clusters inside honey bee colonies and can therefore survive in any location where bees exist.
Could the SHB survive in the UK?
Yes it could. The Small hive beetle is well able to survive even in the colder climates of North America, such as Minnesota and Wisconsin. It has also reached Canada. Studies in the USA show that the adult beetle can survive during winter within the winter clusters inside honey bee colonies and can therefore survive in any location where bees exist.
The Drone Ranger
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How about sticky traps like roach motel
itma
Queen Bee
Looks like the "beetle blaster" … could you tell me how fat it is please?
- wondering if it'll fit between the 'wide' national topbars on my 14x12s which leave a gap of a mere 8mm (a beespace - but is it enough for the trap?)
itma
Queen Bee
Thanks for that!
Quite the opposite apparently.
