> I've read that beekeepers are experimenting with Diatomaceous Earth to
> control small hive beetle. Does anyone know what the protocol for
> treatment is?

I have used D.E. for a few rare "organic" pest control problems.  D.E. is 
very fine, sharp sand.  As the insect passes through it, the partials shred 
the cuticle between the plates in the exoskeleton.  The insect losses fluids 
and dies of dehydration or infection.  If you dust a hive with D.E., you 
will kill it.  The bees will die from 1,000 paper cuts.  To isolate the D.E. 
in some kind of beetle trap, you might as well use a sticky board.

Jim Hock
Wethersfield, CT 

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