As any beekeeper knows, honeybees face many threats in their short lifetimes. A beekeeper’s job is to help their colony(ies) fight off these threats and remain healthy and successful.
Because a honeybee hive has warmth, food, and safe spaces to hide, it can become a sanctuary for certain pests, like small hive beetles, wax moths, or varroa mites looking to raise their young.
Unfortunately, once these pests are present and reproducing inside a beehive, it can cause many issues for the beekeeper and honeybee alike.
What is a Small Hive Beetle?
The small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) is a small (about 5-7mm in length) beetle that’s dark brown or black in color. They have short, clubbed antennae and can be seen inside a beehive moving very quickly, running on comb surfaces, or attempting to hide from honeybees inside crevices.
They are sometimes transferred from hive to hive when beekeepers move colonies or when bees fly from one colony to another, but the primary infestation source is when SHB fly in search of a new colony. They are strong fliers, flying distances over 5 miles to find your bee yard from just about anywhere. They are attracted by the smell of wax, brood, pollen, and honey. Once established in the area will pose a risk to all colonies.
Small Hive Beetles (SHB) will infiltrate beehives so that they can feed on pollen and honey (and bee brood) inside, often in the brood nest. They especially hope to lay eggs safely in the crevices or soft spaces inside, sometimes overrunning a colony.
What issues can they cause?
After a SHB enters a hive and starts reproducing, it is mainly beetles in the larval stage that can cause the most damage.
SHB larvae feed on pollen, honey, AND developing bee brood. In this larval stage, they will get around the hive to feed by tunneling through honeybee combs, ruining & making a mess of any comb, stored honey, or pollen they encounter.
They often leave behind a gooey and icky “slime” that makes it even more difficult to clean up combs once SHBs are present. Not only do they make a huge mess, but because they defecate in honey, it is likely to ferment and be inedible to humans. SHBs are in the larval stage for between 10-16 days but can do a LOT of damage in that short time.
Here’s a perfect example of the icky & sticky mess left behind by the SHB larvae pictured:
After this point, mature larvae exit the hive and try to burrow into the soil nearby to finish developing, but once adults emerge… they seek to start the cycle over and start laying new eggs inside a hive.
Adult SHB in the hive can stress honeybees, too, as bees spend much of their time attempting to chase the beetles away and ensuring they don’t lay eggs inside. A large infestation of SHB can cause bees to become so stressed that they may even abscond and leave the hive entirely.
How can SHB infestations be prevented?
Some strong and healthy beehive colonies have no issues at all with keeping adult SHBs from even entering their hive, but smaller or weaker colonies may have more difficulty keeping SHB out of the hive.
Small Hive Beetles are also huge fans of protein and especially food like pollen patties. Pollen patties provide a nutrient-rich, soft place for beetles to lay eggs. Take great care when feeding any pollen supplement or patty in your hive to ensure SHBs don’t use it to increase their egg-laying capacity.
Feed pollen patties only in small quantities at a time (like half of one patty) or use something like the Trivet to keep patties up above frames and give bees the ability to chase any interested SHB away.
Regular hive inspections are absolutely critical in managing pests like SHB. The sooner you notice any signs of SHB, like beetles running along the sides of frames or in small crevices, damaged combs from larvae, or fermented honey – it’s likely time to step in with some treatments to rid the hive of SHB.
Is treatment available, if an infestation is not prevented in time?
It can be difficult to prevent SHB from entering your hive initially, but a strong colony with an entrance reducer isn’t likely to let many pass through. If some do get inside and start laying eggs, it is possible to help your bees to keep SHB populations low and ensure an infestation doesn’t grow quickly.
Here are some practical prevention options for keeping an SHB infestation from growing rapidly, and some mechanical methods and treatments that may help to eliminate SHB already inside:
- Keep Strong & Healthy Colonies – Ensure the hive is strong enough to keep the entrance guarded and beetles out themselves.
- Help Bees Keep the Hive Clean – Beekeepers can do their part, too, by reducing any spaces where beetles can hide and may lay eggs, like burr comb or cross comb.
- Beetle Traps – There are various mechanical beetle traps available that are meant to help trap adult beetles and prevent them from finding space to lay eggs inside the hive. Some involve adding oil so that bees can chase SHB into the oil where they cannot get out. These types of traps are the best way to reduce SHB inside honeybee hives.
- See our “Learn More” section below for all the SHB prevention & treatment products available in the PerfectBee Store!
- Rework the Ground Around Your Hives – Ensure hives are up OFF of the ground! Hives can be set atop cement blocks or hive stands to be sure the hive entrance is as far from the ground & soil with developing SHBs as possible. Changing the ground and soil itself can really help, too. If you install a weed barrier or use crushed stones/cement mixed into the ground, SHB larvae will find it difficult to burrow into the ground and finish their reproductive cycle.
- Chemical Methods – Though we don’t carry any here in the PerfectBee Store, some chemical treatments and pesticides are available to help eliminate SHB. These should be used VERY cautiously as they may harm the bees, even when used outside the hives.
- Biological Methods – Soil Treatment: The soil around the hives may also be treated with nematodes that parasitize beetle larvae.
- You should also always be sure to check with your state or local agricultural office to ensure there are no regulations surrounding the use of any chemical beetle or soil treatments on the market.
Small Hive Beetles are commonly found in nearly all parts of the United States now, so no matter where you keep your bees, it’s important to keep an eye out and be prepared to step in and help your bees as soon as you notice the presence of SHB to prevent a bigger problem.
As their name indicates, Small Hive Beetles may be “small” but they can very quickly create a HUGE mess and big issue for you and your bees!
Learn More
Check out the articles and product pages below to find out more about preventing & treating SHB.
- Small Hive Beetle: What is it, How to Treat it – Some additional information on this small but mighty pest.
- From Tiny Mice to Big Bears – Just one of many threats that bees face, SHB can be pretty scary… but these threats don’t have to be if you’re prepared with an understanding about them. Find more about SHB and other threats in our article here.
- Big Issues to Check at the Hive Inspection – Though they aren’t physically big, SHB can pose a BIG problem to honeybee colonies. Learn more about other big issues and what to keep an eye out for.
- An Introduction to Cross Comb – Cross comb can be a haven for SHB looking to lay eggs. Learn more about how to manage it with this article.
SHB Related PerfectBee Store Products:
- Beetlejail Small Hive Beetle Trap – The Beetlejail works with a variety of baits (like pollen, apple cider vinegar, pieces of fruit, or even other live beetles) to attract & trap small hive beetles and allow you to completely remove them from your hive.
- Disposable Small Hive Beetle Trap – Save yourself the cleanup with this disposable SHB trap.
- Beetle-Bee-Gone – These all natural, chemical-free sheets will help trap and kill many hive beetles quickly and easily!
- Reusable Small Hive Beetle Trap – Simply fill this trap with 25ml of food-grade oil and use it over and over to trap beetles in your hive.
- The Trivet Pollen Patty Holder – Keeps feed patties up and off the top of frames, giving bees the space to run after SHB and keep them away from the soft and nutritious patty.
- The Field Guide to Bee Maladies – This amazing book will guide you through various problems your honeybees may face, including the Small Hive Beetle.
Colony Member Resources
Colony Member-Only Lessons
- Small Hive Beetles and Honeybees – This lesson dives even further into the life and problems that can occur from the presence of Small Hive Beetles in honeybee hives.
Colony Forum Posts
Many of our Colony members have had to deal with Small Hive Beetles in the past… but luckily, our Colony Forum and other members are always happy to help!
Check out some discussion threads below to learn more about the dreaded Small Hive Beetle and how to manage it:
- Hive Beetles Question – Our Ambassadors weigh in and give some great advice on managing SHBs, especially when numbers are low.
- Hive beetle issues – Pauline’s question about hive beetles gets answered during Cluster, but Ed also weighs in with an interesting home remedy to help fight beetles, too.
- Slatted Bottom Rack – Kelle asks about using a slatted rack and one member weighs in about the many benefits they have, including help with pest management in some cases.
- Picking up the pieces – Kenneth asks about storing frames and what to do about potential larvae inside, like SHBs.
- Small larve in Freeman Trap – Jay shares some information and details about using a Freeman trap to catch beetles & how well it worked for him.
- Autopsy of a Bottom Board – Brenda shares some photos of the bottom board from a hive that didn’t make it and asks for help identifying some of the critters there, could one be SHB?
- SHB Treatments? – Jay gets some great insights about dealing with Small Hive Beetles and treatments that can help.
- Poly Hive SHB and Pollen – Amy has a polystyrene hive and concerns about small hive beetles but gets some great advice from members and Ambassadors alike.
- SHB Trap—outside the hive – Jay, ever the innovator, is thinking about a way to trap SHB before they get inside the hive. Read more about his thoughts in this thread.
- SHB and Diatomaceous Earth – Rebecca offers some interesting ways to fight SHB infestations inside her hive.
- Is it normal to see Large larvae outside the cells? – Could the large larvae Lisa is seeing be SHB or something else?
Want to gain access to awesome discussions like the threads above with other beekeepers and our experienced (and very knowledgeable) PerfectBee Ambassadors? Are you also interested in learning more about honeybees through our monthly Cluster events and our member-only Academy lessons?
You’ll have access to all that and so much more through Colony membership, plus you’ll be a part of an amazing community of kind & helpful beekeepers, all learning together about honeybees and beekeeping. Head here to learn more about Colony membership & to sign up today!
