I am inclined to equate some beekeepers attitude to beetles the same as a cattleman, who finding a dead cow in a paddock, blames the cloud of blowflies for the death. I find that thought to be a bit off the mark, Just because you have never been attacked by a shark, doesn't mean sharks don't attack. It means you were not at the right place at the right time. I personally tend to listen closely especially to those who are willing to share their experiences, and assume they have a different experience. Sometimes we ask questions to be sure. Some even go to the trouble to run experiments and take pictures. Darn few bother to write. I appreciate others observations and comments instead of doubting them. Last week Carrol Hoffman was here and we set up some trial in heavily infested hives. Her protocol was to re-inspect the next day. Keep in mind we checked each hive for queen right, overall strength and brood levels. Carefully recorded. Returning the next day one of the hives crashed from our intrusion. 24 hours from a "heavy infested, but okay" to slimed and bees hanging on the outside of the box. Documented and photographed by Carrol (not an unusual situation) Hives were all double deep 10 frame boxes with at least 16 frames of bees. In the case of AUS you guys have a few tools in your box we don't. Fiprinol traps, different soils lots of things are different, Gene gets fire ants (not sure that's a good trade) Many places have Africanized (mean bees do better) and some are just too cold. In your case, if you don't think they are reproducing in the hive, where do you suspect they come from? Beetle life seems to be about 60 days average so if they were not reproducing, successfully then they would be gone shortly wouldn't they?? (yes I have paint marked a few) but never found a dead one as the bees seem to carry them out to quickly. Charles *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html