Just Saw Judy's post about the ABF report back and what 'Shim' had seen in SA. It is important to remember that in SA we have two hive beetles that cause problems - the small and the large. The large hive beetle, which is a bit smaller than a bee, but wider is easy to get rid of as one just tacks a few nails at the entrance of the hive and it cannot get in. I suspect beekeepers hardly ever have problems with these. If a SA beekeeper loses a colony to Aethina tumida (small hive beetle) theny they screwed up badly and did something wrong - usually pesticide damage from what I have gathered here. If somebody has pesticide damage happening to a hive, the cluster cannot maintain the brood pretection and shrinks - if there is capped brood it gets beetled. A healthy SA hive does not succumb to hive beetles. Keep well Garth Garth Cambray Camdini Apiaries 15 Park Road Grahamstown Apis mellifera capensis 6139 South Africa Time = Honey