The Biggest Problem In Southern Beekeeping

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Thank you Carl Burns for the wooden top covers and bottom boards.
There are no paid promotions in this video. I paid for all these products and have no affiliation with any of these companies.
Beetle Jail beetle traps can be purchased at beetlejail.com/ ‪@beetlejail‬
Apimaye hive equipment can be found at apimaye-usa.com/ ‪@apimayeusa‬
The peppermint method has been popularized by ‪@HillBillyEarl‬.
Acorn frames can be found at www.acornbee.com/ @Acorn

[@gitatit4046]

Randy besides having a super personality you also seem like an honest guy - which is getting rarer these days. So thanks for being you and having us along. I really enjoy your videos. Stay safe and God bless.

[@628DirtRooster]

Thanks so much Gitatit4046

[@caseyolson0369]

Keep putting traps in the hive AND put wood ash or D.E. in front of the hive on the ground. This breaks the life cycle in two places, it really worked for me and is what I do.

[@one8088]

Yeah ok. DE? Damm lingo.

[@averagehomestead]

@@one8088 Diatomaceous earth

[@jbnnm657]

What kind of wood ash? Any kind?

[@caseyolson0369]

​@@jbnnm657 i use the ash from my fireplace.

[@donbearden1953]

Randy, I have some of the beetle jails. I put pollen in the bait compartment a couple of years ago but couldn’t tell if it helped. However, for filling any of the beetle traps with oil, I use a condiment squeeze bottle like you see ketchup or mustard in for making hotdogs. You can squirt oil into any of the beetle traps through the beetle entrances. The bottles comes with a pull off cap so you can keep it full and ready without it spilling. I just wanted to run that trick by you incase you haven’t seen it.

[@nailladi1]

Ever try beneficial nematodes? In Georgia I finally resorted to that.

[@one8088]

@@nailladi1 fukin nematode.... Just a made up word. A politician's wod

[@doncoleman4855]

😢😢

[@davidtester7297]

Have you ever tried combat roach killer in bettle traps? Sounds weird but it works

[@doak4886]

Don’t know if you’ve ever tried it before or not but those peppermints are actually good to eat too. I ate a ton of them and I didn’t have one hive beetle on me this last Christmas

[@kevind7617]

I'm addicted to the soft ones.. my wife buys me the huge plastic jars of them and i keep 1 by the bedding and eat them in my sleep.. I wake up with wrappers on my chest.. my wife says I wake her up all the time rattling wrappers while I'm dead asleep

[@cynvision]

I know it's hive beetle season when I find one crawling on me in the after inspection trip to Walmart

[@Zeldasmojo]

This is also a motivation to buy peppermints. I will be sure to buy the soft ones as well because they taste better

[@carlsledge3868]

I bait mine with queen candy in the middle bait section, works wonders.

[@HeyMJ.]

Thank you for sittin’ us down to talk about the nitty-gritty of beekeeping; protecting against the small hive beetle (SHB) & keepin’ hives healthy! Much appreciated. 👍

[@Itstime2029]

Have you ever considered planting peppermint plants in your bee yards? It might be an interesting test

[@sistrgldnhr]

I am trying this also thyme and oregano to keep mites away😊

[@scottyfox6376]

Peppermint essential oils is recommended too

[@emmahansen6111]

It’s been. A loong time since I’ve watched you. watching these always bring me peace. From when I was 13 to now. In the military and on deployments. Thanks man

[@JeffHorchoff]

Great title for the video, and I agree. Did a split last week on a hive. Came back 7 days later popped the top and there must have bee 200 beetles on the inner cover, popped the cover and the top box was slimed out and full of maggots and beetles. The only thing that saved the hive was the double screened dividing board, it kept all the beetles and maggots in the upper box. The bees absconded from that box, but the bottom box had made emergency cells and there were 10 frames of bees as well. At least I did not lose the entire hive. Great video, God's peace brother.

[@628DirtRooster]

Those double screen boards are the most handy thing!

[@NewEnglandgardening]

I know it would be extreme but could you catch the queen and shake out the bees on the ground and have them walk into a new clean hive set up next to the infested one to eliminate the hive beetles?

[@setfreeatlast7777]

It is so enjoyable to watch how the bees work together. Don't you wish humans did that too? Love your videos.

[@c1h2r3i4s56987]

I guess you cant have original Thought, and 100% co-operation in one kind of being.

[@theresapate8718]

Randy , I pray for you and the Bees. Can't afford to lose something so precious and giving. From Georgia

[@628DirtRooster]

Thank you Theresa. God bless you and your family.

[@tedadams1324]

At 7:32, after seeing that Queen, I must say that she is a BEAUTIFUL color! Carniolan????

[@jimyoungblood1687]

Several years ago you introduced us to the blue top feeders from New Zealand. I keep those on all my hives all year long, even when not feeding. In summer, I leave the doors off the feeder, and the bees corral all the hive beetles up into the feeder where they can't escape back down into the hive and the beetles die there.

[@628DirtRooster]

They are some durable feeders. I need to buy me some more.

[@FrederickDunn]

I'm taking notes just in case those beetle juice jerks make their way to my apiary someday! (';')

[@cathymontgomery7295]

I'm glad the peppermint helped. I've heard good things about predatory nemeatodes. Basicallly the theory is if the critter you are trying to eradicate has part of their life cycle in the ground you can apply the nemeatodes to the ground and water them in and they prey on the animal while its in the soil. You can get them in garden catalogues. Certain types of nemeatodes work better for certain prey

[@UltFrizz]

you want to break the cycle way before the stage they are in the gound

[@kylelieb2977]

@@UltFrizz Yes, but this is why one yard is repeatedly infested. Best to have several attack vectors. Ipm

[@inharmonywithearth9982]

I've kept bees since the 70s A few Hive beetles are nothing when just flying into a hive from afar. It's when a hive becomes dead and then cultivate thousands of pupae to get to the soil and suddenly thousands of beetles at once fly into ALL the hives when it becomes a fatal nightmare. I had a pesticide drift from a hay field that killed my hives. The beetles exploded from my soil all at once. I put down nematodes and they are unable to return in great numbers of beetles even after pesticide kills because they CANNOT become beetles. Now I see only wax moths destroy dead outs like before 99 except for occasional beetles in weak hives.

[@ItzKatGramacy]

Thanks!

[@628DirtRooster]

My pleasure

[@spencercox8972]

Peppermint worked for me. I will keep dropping them in every week or so to keep them in check.

[@FLOWERSANDSLOTS]

Sorry for the hive loss. On a positive note: I really liked the close-up of the brood! I also appreciate you showing the lilacs and wild flowers (primrose and lungwort?????)? :)

[@russellaymond312]

Randy I had that issue 3 years ago,.I used spearmint oil mixed in crisco.put half dollar size cardboard on each corner .You are right about no less than 500 when cover was removed.

[@MikeBarryBees]

10th!! I went from seeing a bunch of beetles to almost none. They’ll be back soon enough, so I’m putting down some grub-x to keep the pupae dead. I leave them supersedures alone too. Bees know better than me…

[@jimjustice581]

‘There she is’. Long live the Queen.

[@gavendb]

i use old conveyor belting to make floors for my bee yard. seems to help a lot. ill try the peppermint too this year and see how it goes.

[@jcbethke1]

Do you think the peppermint might be affecting the qmp so they decided to do the supersedure cell, just a thought. Also, grubex in the ground around the hive can help eliminate hive beetles. The active chemical is being researched to add to pollen Pattie’s, as it is extremely toxic to the beetle larva and hardly toxic to bee larvae good luck.

[@chriskay9581]

I have coincidentally watched a video by a German beekeeper and he also has a problem with hive beetles. He collected a lot of book scorpions (chelifer cancroides) from his barns and put those in larger numbers into his hives. I heard that you can also breed them yourself for beekeeping purposes. Maybe that’s something you could look into? Greetings from Germany! Love your videos! 😀🙌🙌🙌

[@stephaniavanvolkenburg5424]

well i dk about randy, but i think i might take my black light out, and see if i can catch me a few for a experiment.... or make hubby do, as thus far scorpions are about the only bug i am afraid of, that i know....

[@bluekatgal7300]

Tiny Pseudo scorpion bug that does clean pests from beehives. Is that correct? Old timers used them in their beehives. Thx

[@chriskay9581]

@@bluekatgal7300 That’s what I understand. These aren‘t real scorpions. They just look like tiny scorpions. They prey on mites and larvae beetles

[@chriskay9581]

@@stephaniavanvolkenburg5424 These aren‘t real scorpions; they just look like ‘em. 😊 I heard that they are extremely effective in beehives

[@tedkraft6416]

Hey Randy, Hope you get your hive beetles under control. I find the beetle traps and stiffer sheets work pretty well. They’re a pain in the arse down here in Georgia too.

[@jvin248]

One method I've heard about is growing mint in front or next to the hives. Bees take it in the hive themselves. I'd suggest growing in a couple gallon pots and not just the open ground because mint will take areas over if not contained.

[@cynvision]

Someone told my club president rosemary and thyme plants. I think the idea is to mask your hive smells with plant smells. I think best idea I've heard so far is a talk about a pollen patty with laced with GrubX. But that would be off-label experimentation. But when the guy is done reporting his studies I think it's just the thing to put in a CD case trap instead of Borax and Crisco.

[@TheBugman1966]

Ive found out that oilbase baseboards have worked great for my hives it catches beetles before they get up in hive.

[@628DirtRooster]

I quit using them a while back. We get up to 100 hives during the season. Oil tray bottoms are awesome when you only have a hand full of hives.

[@paulleblanc3614]

You should be able to grow peppermint really well around your boxes!

[@wpankey57]

I hope you are alright down there and didn’t get any of those tornados. -Bill

[@628DirtRooster]

They missed us.

[@hubertwebb9869]

Do the Beatles only survive in the bee nests? Can they survive on the ground? If so can you use the powered acid on the ground around the nests to kill them before they get into the box. Or can you put the bee boxes on legs and put glue on the legs to keep the Beatles from climbing thereby sticking them to the legs?❤❤❤❤

[@sheilaburger4160]

FYI, grape seed oil doesn't go rancid like vegetable oil does. So if you don't get the oil changed right away, it won't matter.

[@sporkintheeye]

same is true of mineral oil.

[@boudicea2416]

Peppermint repels all kinds of bugs, it's an old wives trick, it also repels mice. If it seems to work and doesn't harm the bees then it's worth a try.

[@cowdudy]

That hillbilly beekeeper bee knowing some stuff!!

[@628DirtRooster]

He’s a pretty smart fella

[@VeteranOutdoors]

Try the Guardian Hive Entrances. I put them on my hives and they made a big difference with the beetle population.

[@NATURALBEEKEEPERSCOLLECTIVE]

Its like you have an invasion from some where. Try the Guardian entrances. Them Guardians are a red color and the beetles cannot get in because they cannot hover. Just make sure your hives a properly sealed apart from the entrances. . Check out Daves video on them on Barn Yard Bees. Hope this info helps. Stay safe

[@tb7280]

The bees do better in direct sunlight. I was advised by an old beekeeper years ago to keep them in full sun from about 9:00-9:30 a.m. until the sun goes down and it will keep the hive beetle population down. I am in south Louisiana which is about as hot as you can get and the bees thrive in the heat. I have very few hive beetles in my hives and I do not use traps or any treatment. You need to get them in full sun.

[@ONAFIXEDINCOMEAlley-fz8tg]

Theres lots ofhives kept in full CA sun.....no idea how it effects them, but theyre out there.

[@robinz2000]

How about planting peppermint around the yard? No I'm not a beekeeper . But I do everything in my yard to encourage them to come into it. I plant my yard to feed bees.

[@628DirtRooster]

There's about a 200 square foot patch of it in the apiary.

[@chrisbgarrett]

I’ve used the “restaurant towel” Dine O Max off Amazon . About 1/8 of a sheet. It works great. No SHB so far this year. Knock on wood.

[@628DirtRooster]

Those towels do work well

[@KodiakFarmBeesLee]

The peppermints have helped with my SHB issues. I don't put them in a often as I probably should. But still helps just having some in there

[@222boneal]

Mineral oil doesn't either

[@benjones5560]

Make an entrance reducer with a 3/4 x 3/4 and drill 5 holes 5/8 inches in a ten frame. Take a 2 inch piece of 1/2 red pex pipe and put in each 5/8 hole. Leave it flush on the inside of the hive side of the entrance reducer. The hive beetles can get out of the hive but not back into the hive. It takes the bees a couple of days to get used to it but they do well with it. My brother in law did it last year and has no hive beetles. I’m using it on my hives this year. Hope this helps.

[@danielledills1922]

Please send me a picture of the things you are talking about here

[@benjones5560]

@@danielledills1922 it won’t let me post a picture of the entrance reducer

[@thebeecommander]

Regular hydrated garden lime powder works awesome in those between frame traps

[@628DirtRooster]

Good to know!

[@doozowings4672]

I put the hard candy in my winter candy board with the pollen and sugar . Checked the candy boards and zero beetles were found.

[@628DirtRooster]

Love the experiments.

[@Doxymeister]

👍

[@628DirtRooster]

Yup

[@egparis18]

The little buggers!

[@628DirtRooster]

Indeed!

[@tomtheplummer7322]

I dunno🤷‍♂️ I always thank bee folks, farmers, rancher, hunter, gardeners, gathers. I ate 🙏🏻💪

[@UltFrizz]

The beetles are the worst we have ever seen here in Australia this past Summer.

[@628DirtRooster]

Hope they aren’t so bad this year.

[@Blackswan19874]

Randy, I’ve got one yard that tends to be very wet and thusly lots of hive beetles , yet my bees produce great honey at this yard . I began experimenting with the hard peppermints and after having two strong hives abscond because of too many beetles the yard is now under control. I place 4 peppermints every two weeks and between the swiffer sheets and peppermints I’m sold on their effectiveness, hope you continue to see the same results too ! Thanks for your great videos !

[@mitchellcampbell3521]

I use perming essinial oils I put about 8 drops on 3 inch strips of cardboard and hang it over the frames. It works good for me I don’t have any more problems with them.

[@henryparrott2447]

Way of life... my hero....

[@tonyandric4380]

Peppermints work! In Texas as well.

[@628DirtRooster]

And they taste good too. Haha

[@tommychew6544]

I'm planning on putting down landscaping cloth with either sand or gravel on top under the horizontal hives I'm setting up this spring to try to keep the beetles from getting established in the soil around them. I hope it helps and I don't think we have hive beetles as bad here in Missouri but, we do have them.

[@briankeaveney9107]

I’m in Florida with HB’s year round. I put landscape cloth down, spread rock salt on top of the cloth and topped it off with 57 stone. I plan on replenishing the rock salt bi monthly. Too early to see the results.

[@beehavinapiaries8192]

I started adding peppermint oil to my feed, and that seems to work great.

[@briansmith6824]

Jeff Willard has a video from a few years ago about "Super Honey Bee Healthy". Besides lemongrass and spearmint, he adds about 10 other essential oils including peppermint. The bees love it and it seems to help.

[@JamesLeesBees]

Stinking beetles. Last year I was doing something with the bees at night - I use plastic sheeting for "inner covers" and I was wearing a red led headlamp. Wouldn't you know - those beetles don't run at night and don't respond to the red led at all... Smash - pop - smack - crash... mussh...

[@lisamarie6611]

Someone needs to design a trap that works in tandem with how the bees coral the beetles! Another science project!

[@628DirtRooster]

Working on that very thing

[@timhyatt9185]

@@628DirtRooster i saw a beekeeper video (might have been one of yours!) a while back that you can make a makeshift trap from an old plastic CD shell. maybe that could be the basis for a trap?

[@kevind7617]

Or an Everything Beetle Vac.. but high suction.. so they will splatter on the inside

[@cynvision]

I had bees use the black and clear traps as jails but the hive had an old Brushy Mtn. inner cover that was flat. They were some mix of bees that use a lot of propolis. And yes, when I open the hive I break all their jails. And I'm there smashing adults. But these bees are my current favorite box of the bee club's bees.

[@kevind7617]

@Tim Hyatt it's a baited/ poison trap.. you can buy them real cheap.. worked wonders for me last year

[@WrenchHead]

Last year, I was hammered with beetles. I lost several strong hives. I'm not a big fan of the beetle jails b/c they always propolis the holes. The black beetle blasters work better for me. I also switched to diatomaceous earth in the traps.

[@kathyhathaway8823]

Hello Mr. Randy on the swiffer sheets I had to wedge them between the boxes because the Bee’s kept pulling them down thru the frames an damaging my wax foundation. I do not know if my beetles are less but I have a lot less now that I am using the peppermint 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️. On the beetle traps I have found out if you cut one side of one end of the cross bars in the traps an fold the cross bars UP you can take a water hose an was them out then fold them back down an let dry over night an REUSE . I keep extra traps so I can switch them out on a inspections . I can not afford to throw them in the trash just because they are full . As always thanks for all your information you share with us all. THANKS

[@abhishekchatterjee6538]

Glad I found the channel. 😅

[@628DirtRooster]

Welcome to my crazy life. :)

[@linwoodnymph6113]

It would not surprise me if the peppermint candies did the trick. Peppermint is an excellent deterrent for several types of bugs. Apparently bees don't mind it but beetles do!

[@628DirtRooster]

We'll continue to test.

[@lagrangebees]

So glad I don't have to deal with those horrible little things >.

[@628DirtRooster]

Yes, be thankful.

[@bayouboys2852]

Hey Randy this Brandon from Lafayette Louisiana. About 4 years ago you picked me up from Walmart in Gulfport and we went to the Bee association and watched videos and talked about the videos.

[@laureldoherty9363]

I read a study showing beer worked better than oil and used it in beetle blaster type traps. Worked very well. Also using freeman beetle trap bottom boards.

[@rickwarner516]

First let me thank you for being so honest I know we’ve talked about peppermint my biggest issue is hive notes and records back in the states for a few more months blessings to you and your family say hello to Dad as well

[@CharlesM-h3v]

Very sorry to hear about your hives. You ought to get with speak with Jeff Horchoff, he knows what he's doing.

[@628DirtRooster]

I'll do that. Thanks

[@russellaymond312]

Randy I been there too.They are hard to keep In control at times.

[@shawn3693]

mix powdered shungite into paint, paint the hives with it your bees will exponentially increase

[@steveo1006]

A trick I was told by someone in my first year was recently forgotten and resulted in the loss of a cutout and 2 swarms. The trick was to put a queen excluder on the bottom board with brood box on top. Locks her in and prevents an abscond.

[@freebymid4308]

That also locks in the Drones so not really a good thing to do.

[@TheRoyalHomestead]

Peppermints worked in my hives last year, too. I had one that was half slimmed. I scrapped out and cute what I could out. Dropped Peppermints i, and that took care of my SHB.

[@628DirtRooster]

I'm experimenting more this year.

[@lisajligon]

If you can't find the queen, there are emergency queen cells, and half your bees are gone.... wouldn't that mean the queen took half the hive with her and absconded? And the bees that were left behind are trying to grow a new queen asap?

[@michaelmueller4946]

Try swifter sheets on top of some frames. Traps them

[@joshzembower856]

My chemistry teacher and computer science teacher in high school figured out a way to keep oil and water from separating, for mint oil to treat mites. Comp science teacher had bees.

[@jimmclaughlin-hh9lk]

Grubex or similar grub killer applied on the ground may help.

[@628DirtRooster]

Our chickens free range so I’m careful about what I put out.

[@dfishman76]

I have taken a queen out of a hive they where building queen cells in and just put her in a different hive. I think they did good I can remember

[@628DirtRooster]

Yep, it's called a false swarm. Makes them think they already swarmed and they go back to work.

[@tomtheplummer7322]

💪🙏🏻🇺🇸

[@shanephillips113]

Has anyone tried planting peppermint plants around the hive?

[@628DirtRooster]

I'm sure someone has done it but I haven't incorporated that yet.

[@bjrnhjjakobsen2174]

You Can buy peppermint Oil - originally for adding drops to tea if you have a cold😜

[@628DirtRooster]

Probably a cheaper option than continually adding candy.

[@SUZANNECARPENTER-ou3je]

Peppermint plants will keep anything out of a garden.

[@jamescohn4268]

Love this channel. Always great watching these. Blessings.

[@628DirtRooster]

Thank you

[@tomtheplummer7322]

I live true mile hi 👋🏼. Got the WHY out. Got high pollen stuff out. 😊

[@ronniemoore961]

Randy, I have also heard of putting lime on the ground around the boxes and under box. I plan on trying it myself this coming spring with the colonies I will be getting. My hive Bettle population is not that bad, but I do have them.

[@628DirtRooster]

I recommend throwing everything at them.

[@beekeeper213]

I only use a swifter pad and I put 4 hard candy peppermint 1 on each corner and last year I seen 5 hive Beatles all season.. they work

[@lynnpalfi4322]

Hi Rooster. Wonderful video as usual. :-) Try adding a couple tablespoons of sumac to your smoker every time you load it. Helps keep down the hive beetles as well as wax moths.

[@PaulDosen]

Great to hear Randy that you're doing your best to manage SHBs (small hive beetles) not sure how the treatment free beekeeping community will feel about your decision though.

[@randlerichardson5826]

If we don’t get some cold weather in here bugs will eat everything up

[@mattodd5169]

I've had the same issue I north alabama

[@628DirtRooster]

They put up a good fight.

[@shayacre5844]

Good stuff Randy! My nephew started to bee keep last year. I like to send him your videos. Very informative plus you crack me up sometimes. Love the photos of all the interesting and beautiful buildings, flowers ect.😊

[@628DirtRooster]

That is awesome! I hope he is very successful with it.

[@donnamurphy5698]

Won't the bee's eat the peppermint? Would it change the taste of the honey? Where/how do the bees get the wax for the comb?

[@danlieter5673]

There is a lot of real promising work on beetles being done with Chlorantraniliprole the active ingredient in Scotts Grubx. Dr Lewis Burtlett from the University of Georgia has a very good KZbin on it titled, Possible new hive beetle control, I believe it's under Bob Binnie's channel, very interesting.

[@baconneggs2406]

Maybe try growing mint around the hives?

[@CastleHives]

That is crazy. I guess i'm lucky that I don't see SHB like that in NE Ohio.

[@snarky_user]

If the peppermints have a positive effect, try some peppermint oil. I think that peppermint oil is soluble in wax. Maybe wax the foundations with peppermint-oil laced wax? Try a few frames and throw a colony into it.

[@nancynolton6079]

To keep those genetics I'd have probably pulled that queen cell frame (and frames of bees and brood from other hives) and made up a real strong nuc. That way if that queen flew the coop I'd have a back up to replace her with. Will be interesting to see how yours plays out. Keep us posted! That queen sure didn't look old (no tattered wings).

[@Brett-cv3jq]

I saw a couple of ideas on KZbin about controlling these beetles. Nature's Image Farm- Greg Burns makes a paste called murder sauce and the other South Florida beekeeping with Rich uses Scott's Grub EX. Since you have chickens not be able to use the Scott's.

[@SuburbanSodbuster]

SHB are becoming my greatest nemesis. Here in Missouri they may not be as big as a problem as they are farther south, and I haven't lost strong hives to them (yet) but they can build up quickly. I first checked my hives when we had some early spring warmup about a month ago and already found quite a few beetles in the hives. But, surprisingly, as I was checking hives yesterday, I found almost none. Maybe our recent cold weather set them back; I'm sure they'll return.

[@628DirtRooster]

I hope they are gone for good. Those things are terrible.

[@curtbeers1606]

Curious @suburbanSodbuster where in Mo are you? I'm near St.L, just starting with a couple hives. One Langstroth, one Layens. Huge fan of Dr. Leo and of course the Rooster.

[@SuburbanSodbuster]

@@curtbeers1606 Howdy, neighbor! I'm in South County.

[@curtbeers1606]

@@SuburbanSodbuster 👍 Franklin county. Recently was at Isabees for a medium box.

[@houstonsheltonbees814]

I've told this same story before and people said well if you keep your colonies strong this doesn't happen. It absolutely can. I've never treated the ground though, so I think I'm going to this year. Maybe your on to something about an untreated yard after ten years. I'm seeing this too. Hope you have a great season. Good health and God bless

[@caseyolson0369]

D.E. or wood ash on the ground in front of the hive should kill the larvae going to pupate in the ground. It worked for me really well.

[@houstonsheltonbees814]

@@caseyolson0369 thanks man👍

[@c1h2r3i4s56987]

the beetle larvae, makes it way outside, and into the ground soil, in the top 4 inches of soil. The Beetle Larvae pupates ( like a caterpillar in a cocoon) which takes 3-6 weeks depending on Temperature and soil moisture. Temperature and Moisture Could be Key to eliminating Hive beetles from a yard. ORRRRR What a minute, What if you cover the ground under the hives so that the Larvae Can not Bury them self's in the dirt, ( I'm thinking about Tarps big plastic sheets.) And you could crate a barrier between the hive and soil , you could then " funnel" the Larvae In to one concentrated area, for harvest ( im sure chickens and reptiles would eat it up!) ( Hell Maybe Chickens Alone digging in the dirt could hold back the beetle population. Well, During the Spring/Summer , in the south a Tarp in the sun can get like 120F on a mid to upper 80F day, these little Maggots dry out really fast, and can not be in direct sun for long. I think large Tarps under the hives Could be all it takes, ( condensation from live grass on the under side would surly be a hindrance) . And There may be an environmental Trigger, for these Larvae/ Maggots, to venture outside the Hive to bury in the soil; such as Rain or Night time ( conditions which a tarp would not kill the larvae before they find soil. ) in which Case there would be a need to Trigger the Larvae , so they leave the hive, and harvest themselves , by falling in to a trap.

[@c1h2r3i4s56987]

@@caseyolson0369 OH yeah D.E. Would be way less hassle then tarps , my bad. Im a pool guy So I Know D.E. ( if you leave a bag outside say in a cardboard box , any lil bugs that find themselves inside the bag get trapped, and next time you open it, you will see a grave yard of bugs on the surface) and I know it is used as pest control, I just thought if it was effective vs. the Hive beetles, it would be common knowledge amongst beekeepers.

[@jomiller4397]

I think they may be using the Peppermint to disguise the scent of their brood. Like gardener's use herbs to mask tomatoes 🤔 I asked gunline Bees if he noticed a smell in the wax or a different taste to honey. He replied not really but he thought he saw signs of Peppermint around the brood areas. I will get my first Bees next week and I already have lots of Peppermints mostly because the Peppermint puffs are my favorite for upset tummies and just for fun. I would love to read a study on the Bees use of the Peppermint and what they use for mosquitoes 😉 Belated sorry for your loss.

[@michaelmueller4946]

I lost 2, 3 stack hives to those destructive beggars. Try swifter dryer sheets.

[@pattibuckman2473]

I used peppermint oil in mine. I’m not sure if it’s work or not.i haven’t been in them again. I’m in Missouri. Love your videos. Helped me a lot learning about bees. I love to trapping and removing from buildings and trees. You all on UTUBE created a monster along with my friend that is coaching me.

[@newholland68]

Just a thought, but you may be able to buy peppermint oil and put a drop or two on the lid and have a longer lasting more concentrated scent left in the hive to keep them out. Have also heard of salting the ground beneath the hives to kill the hive beetle larvae. We don’t have as big a problem here in Ky with them. And I’ve also noticed that when I treat in the fall with apivar there seems to be a good kill on the remaining beetles. Good luck with getting them gone and keep up the videos.

[@Panelman-wx8fo]

I’ve been keeping beetles at bay for years with salt. I purchase pool salt and put it on the ground before the rain. Kills grass and weeds too. I don’t use chemicals around my bees. Good luck Randy.

[@jobyevans1]

Not too sure about the lighted smoker in one hand and the gas can in the other . . .

[@628DirtRooster]

That’s when you don’t know whether to grow your business or burn it down.

[@randlerichardson5826]

Good luck and GOD BLESS

[@jhulin9018]

Randy, There are folks here in Texas that mix 7 cups vinegar, 7 cups of pool salt and 1 gallon of water and they spray or saturate the ground at night with that mixture under the hives to change the pH of the ground where the hive beetles pupate. I have not tried it but a commercial beekeeper in our area says it is very effective.