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.