Hello Mick and All,
The reason many beekeepers are seeing many small hive beetles this year over
the last two is simple. The drought of the last two years has reduced the
shb problem in areas of the south east.
Now that wet weather is back those in areas of shb getting rain are in for
infestation problems.
I do not know the reason for the higher infestation rate with wet weather
but all apiary inspectors in shb areas reported less shb during the drought.
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison