In a message dated 05/01/2000 7:19:44 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<<  Reports of small hive beetle activity this spring have been mixed. As
winter
in Florida drew to a close, few adults could be detected, but later larvae
started appearing again in honey houses. >>


Hello Friends,
The hive beetle has made some very significant inroads in Florida. I don't
want to alarm you unnecessarily. This is, however, necessary. A fellow
beekeeper friend of mine called me at work today. He is fearing that he may
be put out of business if he can't get a handle on the Hive Beetles in his
yards. He has experimented with various means to combat the beetle and has
concluded that the larvae stage is significantly tougher than it's parents.
He said he was cleaning up some of his equipment with bleach and he poured
some bleach on a small group of larvae. These critters just swam through the
bleach and were still alive the next day when he checked on them!

He is experiencing an extremely rapid rate of hive failures. He will have an
apparently healthily hive one week. The queen will have a beautiful brood
pattern. The next week, this same hive will be riddled with Hive Beetles and
ready to collapse. He is really frantic, to say the least. The destructive
ability of this beetle is way more than I have been reading about. These bugs
eat brood and honey faster than the bees can clean it up. Last week my friend
was telling me about his plans to expand his bee business. After examining
his hives this weekend, he is wondering if he will even be able to keep bees
at all!

We have had such a drought here that the recommended ground drenching
chemicals can't get into the soil. It just runs off and the buried pupae are
unaffected, no matter what is poured on them. He is planning to build 1/4"
screen bottom boards and suspend the hives over water, in an attempt to break
the breeding cycle. He hasn't used the Coumophos strips yet, (and who really
wants to) but he will surely need to soon, I'm sure. We are in heavy nectar
flow right now. This is a real convoluted mess. The hives are collapsing with
young queens laying their hearts out  in a honey flow.

This is a voracious pest. It might be considered a 'minor pest' in it's
country of origin, but they are also farming a different bee. I have not had
any in my hives yet but his yards are only 5 or 6 miles away.  I'm pretty
sure we will be on the hot seat soon. His source of infestation came from a
fella that spins the frames for him, about 50 miles away. He reports that the
honey house of this guy is just 'crawling with maggots'. (only this year). He
(probably) brought the bugs back in a truckload of wet supers, and the rest
is a history story in the making.  It looks like we are going to have a real
battle on our hands soon.  I will take a look at his yards myself and then I
will be able to give you a firsthand report.

Bob Bassett -  Hoping it isn't as bad as it sounds.