Hive Beetles Take Advantage Of Retired Beekeeper, How To Clean Up A Beetle Infested Hive
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2016
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This video is a look at an apiary that belonged to a long time beekeeper who had to give up the hobby due to age and failing health. It is also a look at how to clean up a beetle infested hive or nasty beekeeping equipment that is full of beetle slime. There are a few ways to clean equipment that small hive beetles have wreaked havoc on. One thing that is pretty much a necessity whatever method you use is to wash all the equipment. Honey bees don't like beetle slime so if you just freeze your frames and then put them back in a hive the bees may take a while to clean the frames like you want them to. Also it seems that the scent left on these nasty frames attracts more beetles. I've heard of people burning their equipment when it gets to this point. It is not necessary to destroy the equipment. This equipment is not cheap and it only takes a little elbow grease to save it.
In our area it seems that the small hive beetle is our biggest pest problem and the main cause of the death of a weak colony. Some people would argue that Varroa mite is the biggest problem but I would have to disagree.
This equipment belonged to a friend of ours and my dad bought him out of all his hives and equipment and since my dad is also having trouble getting around my brother and I are helping him with his beekeeping chores.
I never really gave much thought about there ever being a time to retire from beekeeping until I heard that our friend was quitting and moving closer to some of his children. The only other people that I've known to give up on it have been people who just plain gave up because it wasn't as simple as they thought it was going to be and their hives died out. There have been quite a few of those that have called me to see if I knew anyone who would want to buy their equipment. None of these folks had any bees left, just equipment. It's pretty common in my experience that a person could save some money getting into beekeeping by buying out a retiring beekeeper. I've even run across beekeeping equipment in estate liquidations. If you find a supplier who regularly advertises honey bees for sale they may even be able to direct you to someone they know who wants out.
Two other cleaning methods that I didn't mention is placing the equipment on or next to a fire ant mound or letting chickens eat the larvae. I've done both of these but never with this amount of larvae.
The music is Turn On by RW Smith - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Thank you for being gracious and not blaming the old gent for letting his bees go south. It's hard when your body doesn't work anymore.
Old age does slow you down.
I'm disabled. I know how hard it isto have a broken body. I've always dreamed of having bees, since I was about 8 or 9. I just need a strong, able-bodied person to do it with me!
I'm disabled, and just learning about bees. I love the 8 rack kit that I am interested in. I could handle that, I think. My motto? "HONEY, HONEY, in 2020!" This year is my learning year! I'm 51. I enjoy this guy!!!
I took to the chicken pen and they cleaned it up pretty fast.
This has to be one of your finest videos EVER! The range of emotions that this video evokes rocks even the Ricketier scale. I was almost in tears with the opening and then before I knew it, it was like a Halloween movie going into the shadowy, over grown backyard of the abandoned house where you know something is going to jump out and slash your brand new tire. Then it really gets scary when you show the hive full of the nasty maggots, I can just imagine those things crawling out of an eye socket on a decaying body. With the preliminary stuff over with, you went for the climax of the video, using your own brother as a stand in (and I can't imagine how much you had to pay him), you had him giving the maggots a warm bubble bath. Then, after I cleaned the vomit off my monitor from seeing the maggots swimming in their own excrement, you hit us with grilling hamburgers. True artistic creation. This is proof as to why you have over 25,000 subs. My one regret after watching this video was I could not hit the thumbs up a hundred times. Keep 'em coming, we'll be watching. Mr. Ed
Aw man you know you're giving me bad dreams with all the scary talk. I hope you got the puking scene on video. That could put you on the viral video map. Thanks for the great comment.
It just so happens I did video the whole thing. Unfortunately, a big piece of back splash landed right on lens and the entire event was blocked out by what appears to be a large piece of a nacho chip. Just my luck.
Nasty! LOL
Yeah, we know where the jumping out thing is going to come from, pal!
Fell out of the smoker??
i literally dont know anything about beekeeping or anything like that, i live in the centre of a city lol, but these videos are so fascinating, and you seem like such a chill guy. I hope you keep posting :)
So glad to have you watching.
Beats By N Puvi me to, I'm actually terrified of bees and wasps, but I find theis videos cool. so I guess u can say I like them from a distance
It is possible to keep bees in the middle of a city, more than you might think.
My heart goes out to the man that aged beyond his hobby I hope he has lots of good memories from his bee keeper days. Hopefully he has found something that his body allows him to do to keep him happy. Great video.
This video is pretty great. A little bit of sadness, handled delicately, without recriminations. If he ever gets where he can go home but still can't take care of them, it's be nice if someone could treat those hives as a secondary yard. That way the bees can be taken care of and he can still enjoy them as much as possible.
He talked about quitting for a couple of years. After a few falls this year he decided to hang up his smoker.
I have absolutely no problem with bees. But I would have killed that infested box with fire! Cut my losses and take joy in the cleansing power of fire.
Everybody loves the crackle of a cozy little fire.
The retired bee keeper is lucky to have you as a friend. Bless you for going over there and starting the clean up. I was so sad when you explained why the keeper had to stop keeping. You gave a lot of good information whilst you cleaned up and then.... a Turtle! A very nice looking healthy turtle. Thank you for ending on a high note!
Can't leave everybody sad. :)
I have been splitting wife's aunts hive, she is 80 and still be keeping. A great lady that always goes.
Pretty cool that she's still at it.
"Soapy water doesn't kill them immediately....uhh pure water takes...forever" idk why but this was hilarious. You're a cool dude love what you do!
Thanks for the views Timmy.
Been watching your vids for a while man. Seeing this makes me really appreciate the relationship between humans and bees. Aging sucks. I'm glad you were around to take over this guys bees.
Thanks Riley
If you have a dedicated freezer you can just put frames in it for two days. Thaw and they're good to go. If you're new you're going to have it happen. Trick I use is dreching under hives with permethrin. Usually an infestation can be tolerated until the hive starts making its own Beatles in the ground under it.
Hey Dirt Rooster, a subscriber of mine suggested I come check your channel out. I post my beekeeping struggles along with other homesteading type activities. You're videos look good. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching man.
I know this is an older video. But I have to say again you are a rockstar and this video was so personable, so caring, and just plain genuine. Thank you again. A fan
Aw thanks Lonna
Wow, that intro was emotionally powerful. I could feel your bee passion. I love your channel.
It was a tear jerker. lol
I’ve been through the same thing too often. Gave up trying to wash everything like you did here. I fire up my steam wax melter and throw all the frames in and scrape in all the grubs. I get clean frames, rendered wax and excellent compost. Love your channel, mate. Keep it up.
Thanks for posting all of this for us who are just starting out
>wash with soapy water & set out
>freeze & set out
>bleach
what about FIRE? To me, that looks like it could use a healthy dose.
If you use fire, then you're not saving the hive itself. Randy's whole purpose was to rescue the equipment...
it was a joke. :p
Actually, you can use a blow torch or a heat gun on a hive to help kill hive beetles and other parasites.
SpiritBear12 Perfect!
Skinny Mcdoogin
wat?
I don't understand why keep watching your videos. But I do, I've binge watched most of your videos now. Got my sub.
Ha! Thanks for the sub.
I just found your channel man! Been bingewatching for like 2 hours now. Subbed
Ha! Thanks for the sub. Now take a break and go get some ice cream. :)
Love your vids dude!! Very interesting for a 16 year old who
Took some AG classes been subscribed to you for a while thanks for keeping me
Entertained man aslong as you make vids I'll be here thanks again.
Thanks for the support.
I just started beekeeping. I Absolutly love your channel! Keep up the good work
Thanks Erik
This happened to my uncles when he was in hospital for a while we washed the frames and put the box on the side for the chickens to clean up
Great to see you still uploading! keep it up!
Sure will. Thanks for watching.
628 I enjoy your videos very much thank you and God bless
Thanks a bunch David.
Sort of a somber subject but full of interesting facts.
We had a tortoise like that roaming our backyard. She loved eating the rose petals and hibiscus flowers. Those suckers are faster then you think too. My hubby left the back gate open just a tiny bit. 5 minutes later the bottom of the gate had been pushed open a little and she was long gone.
Anyway, awesome video. 👍
We had one inside a fenced area around a big fig tree when I was a kid. Somehow it got out. I still think it climbed the tree and jumped the fence. LOL
Damn DirtRooster, you and yours are a good people. Keep up the great work.
It's all a front. We're rotten scum. ;)
Excellent video. Thank you Randy
Thanks Tim. Now we just have to keep the rest of these boxes healthy.
Found a slime out just yesterday while stacking boxes on. Time to wash some frames.
actually made me consider bee keeping as a hobby to help them out. + the honey be pretty good too. keep up the good vids
Hah I was fastforwarding the video at the end. Saw you guys cleaning the frames. Next click there were burger steaks on a grill. Maggots ---> steaks.. :D
Definitely going to share this with friends.
Much appreciated John
Good video as always. keep em coming.
Thanks man
What a roller coaster, so sad, in awe, in destroy mode and then oooo~! Cute tortoise~! 😂
Ha! :)
@7:25 LOL I was watching this with my headphones on. When my grand daughter asked me did you guys made those worms into those patties?
TURTLE!!! Woooh yea .. good video 👍🏾👍🏾 enjoyed it
Thanks Gustavo. :)
Can you reuse the drawn frames? After cleaning with soap and putting in the freezer?? Thanks for any answer
Nice wriggly rice dinner! LOL! Nasty! Sucks to get old...I don't even want to think of the day I can't do the stuff I do now! Keep on Keeping Man!
Eat these with chop sticks and a little soy sauce.
I hate the thought of getting too old and unfit to function. I dug out my boxing gear yesterday and plan on starting back on that a little.
Good to keep active! I really feel my age when I don't do anything for a few days!
Amazing work from turning this 5:58 into this 7:24. very resourceful !
LOL Took me a minute to figure out what you were talking about. That's gross.
hahaaa ;)
Love your vid's man, and your dad is the coolest cat!
Absolutely love your videos
Thanks Super Bunny
Wow. Imagine how many beetles were added to that bee yard. I'd go and treat the ground below that hive before thousands a hive beetles hatch.
We moved everything out of there.
Great insight....
Oh my god, that's so nasty. D: That poor guy, having to give up what he loved doing because of age. :( It was nice of you to take the hives that weren't completely dead or hopeless, to give them a second chance. I'm really afraid of bees, but these videos have shown me that bees aren't the evil little demons I thought they were, especially since they're so important for pollination. Now, wasps, yellowjackets, and hornets, there's nothing that'll get me to believe they're anything but evil little demons.
That 🐢 at the end made my day.
Turtle turle
Aaah I hate larva of any kind! Bad experience with maggots when I was younger scarred me for life. I guess this video helped me a little bit, Definitely helped me clear my stomach.
You're welcome.
can't help but watch everyday since I saw the first video should have your own TV show.
Ha! That'll be the day.
Way you started the video I had thought you were going to announce your retirement from beekeeping. Glad to see that's not the case just yet lol
I thought about titling the video that way but I hate click bait tiles. lol
628DirtRooster Really glad you didn't
You are incredibly brave walking through the tall grass. I'm always terrified of snakes lurking!
Do you think your wife's chickens would have enjoyed the wormies? Or would it be a bad idea to let them touch the ground where they could hide and grow into big beetle?
I'm amazed. Here in Europe the whole lot, including the healthy hives, would have been destroyed. The ground around the hives would have been treated and an exclusion zone of several kilometers would have been put in place round the apiary. It would have been out of the question to keep, let alone transport, any of the equipment. There was a beetle outbreak in the south of Italy in 2014 and so far no new infestations have been discovered thanks to this policy.
Wow! We just have to deal with them here. They are in all 50 states to my knowledge and dealing with them is just part of beekeeping here.
I honestly didn't think you were going to say "wash it out with soapy water" I was predicting "kill it with fire".
Give it a bath.
Is the comb savable after washing out or will it need to be scraped back down to the foundation ?
Thanks for posting
My pleasure
Love watching these videos , but I have a quick question for you .. so I had a hive in the corner of our roof , and when the roofers came to do our roof they decided on taking the combs !! And now I'm having these beetle larvae creeping into the room where the hive was !! What should I do ?
Please reply
Only a bee keeper would have the courtesy to put on their hazards while speeding😂
Sad story. Glad you are doing what needs to be done.
Thanks for watching.
New to your channel and love your videos. You mentioned in one of your videos that you have a 2 day holding period on new bees to your place. Why is that? Do you have videos that take the viewer through the whole bee keeping process? This is fascinating! God bless you for taking care of the bees that help keep us all fed!! I ❤️🐝's!
Two day hold is on all swarms and on cut out colonies that I'm not sure I got the queen. Got quite a few video about it.
628DirtRooster - looks like that's what I will be watching tonight!! Thank you and great videos!!
Ugh, this is so sad and gave me the chills. On the other hand, my chickens would've loved to get their breaks on that larvae
The chickens work them over once they figure out what they are. It takes them a few minutes to mull it over.
@@628DirtRooster beaks I meant to say, lol. Also, awesome that you replied on a 5 or 6 year old video. 🐝
Great video - thanks for posting. I have a similar problem, not quite as bad and still trying to save the hive. You said you can reuse the comb after cleaning. I know the honey is unusable, but did you harvest it and dispose of it before the cleaning process?
I don't recall there being any honey in this one but if there were I wouldn't worry about doing anything with it other than cutting the cappings level if there was capped honey. I may leave it out for my other hives to rob but they don't like hive beetle slime so if there's much of anything in bloom they may not even take it. I'd just wash the combs.
Wow, I was thinking a torch might be the answer. But your way was better..
A torch would make short work of the situation.
so, question: can you use those larvae (I don't know is that it's the term I'm looking for) those baby beetles as fishing bait?
Chicken feed. They're pretty small for bait.
I liked the 2nd intro lol great job dude
:)
A blow torch is the best tool to clean larvae followed by the soapy water.
Chinese delicacy. Crunchy beetle larvae to snack on like meal worms for chickens.
Thanks for the video. Now we can all see that a mess that large can be cleaned up and reused. #RockOn!
Love the hat. Hey I have had hive beetles all summer. But I've checked every few weeks in all the frames and I never see larvae, just dead beetles outside the hive and underneath the bottom board. The hive is on a concrete slab so you would think I would see them crawling. Anyway, things seem to be under control. The bees are doing fine. Where do you think the larvae are coming from oh wise one?
Could you think of anything else they could be? Just dried up multl legged maybe 1/4" x 3/16"
Send me a picture to my email. 628rooster@gmail.com
Yuk that was gross, but now I know what beetles can do to a hive.
Thank you.
They are nasty
Love your videos. Especially this one before eating. Lol
Hope your food settled well. ;)
Thanks for the education, one question I have would the start of wax moth problems in the hive start with a funny smell. One of my hives, has started to smell not right. And i have seen larvae on my bottom screen . And have seen a couple of moths in the top cover.
Weak hives many times have a different smell than healthy one regardless of why they are weak. Wax moths don't usually cause a bad smell like small hive beetles do though.
628DirtRooster Thanks sir.The hive has a very poor queen can see nothing on the frames but it just dont smell right.
littleninpo Are the bees pretty active?
628DirtRooster Yeah taking pollen in was watching them tonight but. But was getting a little cold so numbers wasnt as busy as usual
littleninpo Oh you're probably smelling the golden rod honey. It has a foul odor sometimes.
could you reuse the frames with the wax combs in place that are cleaned. I just went through this and saved my super but the bottom box was so bad I had to burn it. I am buying a new bottom and will put new bees into it. I want to reuse the super and is loaded with wax but clean and free of the beetles and larvae.
You can use all of this. Just freeze it all for a few days first. Don't burn you equipment next time. Just freeze it for a while. That kills everything. Then you can wash it all before putting it back to use.
This right here. I like to watch. You are interesting.
You are very kind.
That was a hard to watch but needed video. Knowing when to stop when you can't take care of things. No one would want things to get that point I would think if they ever cared to begin with, and if you took the time to care about bees you would care I would think. This seems like a video that should be shown to some elderly folks with early onset dementia so they will understand if you catch it early enough. I lived through helping my mother enough with dementia that after a point there is nothing you can do, one of the saddest things I have ever had to do in my life was deal with that!
I was thinking that they could not resist hot water and they would still be food for fish or birds. Would that work?
Do you use a Varroa Gate on your hive?
I know this is old but researching what to do since I now have this issue. I did not see what you did with the comb...Do you have to remove all the comb from the boards or are you able to re-insert in into another new hive? If so, how do you get all the bad honey out?
Rinse everything very good then freeze it all or use phostoxin to kill everything in the crevices. Bees do not like the smell of hive beetle slime and will not work those frames until they are pretty clean. Don't put those frame in a healthy hive until they've been frozen for a couple of days and rinsed really well or you'll just be causing another problem. Don't worry about trying to salvage any of the honey. It's a loss. After you rinse the frames you can leave them out to see if the bees will take anything off them. Do this well away from any of your hives so you don't cause robbing within your good hives.
New bee keeper New subscriber thanks
Thanks for the sub!
I’m not familiar with any of these costs but what’s the time or cost to just toss it and build a new box?
Wow, if there was anything to motivate you to fight hive beetles it is the view of the infested hive.
Hey DR.! Been a while since we "talked". I don't know what you pick up on having 25K+Subscribers but I'm an old Mississippi boy that loves God, Country and Momma (and 628DirtRooster channel)! I will support the Constitution of the United States and Bill of Rights with my life. I am (apparently) Conservative but not Republican (like I thought I was for the past 40 years). My ancestry is White Evangelical Christian for many generations. I can trace my lineage back to the early 1700's and that only matters because I had hoped that the supply of prayers laid up for me would get me through these last 61 years! I WAS WRONG! I'm thinking now that I've been such a heathen that I've used up all my prayers and I'm on my way out! So far in 2016, I've lost a long term employee and my closest friend, I've had a series of heart related issues that has monopolized my time (something like your friend in this video) causing my bees to be unsupervised for 6 weeks. An area about 100 miles wide(east-west) and 300 long(north-south) are in severe drought and my bees are suffering! BEE RECAP: I started in March with 6 strong hives. I had 1 hive that just went crazy and I ended up with 4 splits from it. I also pulled about 25 pounds of honey from it. I didn't take anything away from the other hives. I did capture one swarm using your "Swimming Pool Lawn Chair Method" that should be patented. The strong hive is still strong but all the others are struggling. I've gotten In hive feeders and I am pouring the sugar syrup to them. I've lost 2 hives, 1 was a split and the other was once my second strongest hive. the strong one that I lost seemed to have succumbed to hive beetles and the other to wax moths. However, the pests may have moved in after the hive had starved to death. This is much harder than I expected it to be! BUT!, I will know how to deal with drought next time, assuming that I live long enough to experience another one!
Good to hear from you man. Glad you're still making foot prints. God's grace is sufficient to wipe away how ever many decades of heathen living we can manage to pile up so long as we have accepted Christ as our savior. I'm thankful for that because there's no way I wouldn't end up in hell otherwise. There's strength in numbers so you can count on my prayers.
Hate that you're having such a time with your bees but I guess that'll keep you from getting bored. lol Keep at it. We have a little bit of time left to build them up for winter. Maybe you snag some more easy swarms in the spring.
Stay in touch and let me know how you are doing.
Do you think it would be worth trying to put the entire box in a trash bag and then filling it up with a mixer of bleach and water then letting it sit with the top of the bag tied for about a day?
i found a couple larvae in my hive how do i get rid of them and prevent it from happening again?
Ouch! By the time you see larvae it may be too late. Take that frame out and freeze it for two days. After it thaws it can go back in a healthy hive to be cleaned up. You're going to have to keep an eye on that hive. Feed them.
An abandoned lot behind my house has had hives for years and have never seen anyone tend them, fenced in well so can't get to them but bees have lived for at least the last decade without help in the hives
I would have just thrown that hive in the fire pit
You should see if they'll give them to you.
dangit Randy thats some nasty stuff bro. love the vids bro.
Randy so those were hive beetle larvae and not fly maggots ?
Those two busy hives looked like they could be saved and kept, at least. Maybe that weak hive could be, too, if it got some help. A nasty bit of work (maggot slime; ugh! DX), but not one without its up-sides. That first hive on the row looked especially strong. And I agree with some of the other commenters; all those larvae could make some pretty good chicken feed :) Ah, well; next time you get a call like this, your wife's birds can have their fill then~
They would eat till they puked. I'd probably puke as soon as they started. lol
+628DirtRooster You and me both, man. I'd dump the grubs and hightail it out of there before I could toss my cookies~ XD
Oh, man, I just noticed... You must have had to hose out your truck bed, too; it was covered with the..ugh... So nasty. DX
id love to start bee keeping when i get my house, could you recommend books or video that would be good to check out.
my main concern is the equipement, can't seem to find any complete list
Beekeeper's Bible
Smoker, hive tool, veil, Bottom, two deeps, one medium and a lid. That's a good start.
so funny story, I work at a truck shop and we once had a garbage truck in that needed the transmission fixed. well, the mechanic working on it dropped the valve body, and ripped the internal wiring harness. our shop is not Allison certified and the truck ended up sitting in the shop for about 3 weeks.
due to being full of garbage, the truck would drip juices on the floor. in the last two weeks when we came in the mornings we would shovel the maggots off the floor where the truck had been dripping juices all night, like 1000s and 1000s of them.
That was 4 years ago, and the concrete floor is still stained all the way down to the drain. nasty things
That had to be horrible to work in.
I WAS eating some chips, so thanks for looking out for my health i guess... :)
Aww Wish I'd known. I would have mixed up some dip for your chips. ;)
Does this kill the larvae. Are not afraid they will get with your bees again.
Question regarding the use of bleach: Would the residue repel bees? maybe I'm just not good at cleaning bleach off wood products but it seems like there's always bleach residue for a long time. If I had the choice, I too would've used a dish soap over bleach for the reason of avoiding the residual bleach smell afterwards
if you put in in the sun it will dry up with no scent , we do it all the time with no problems what so ever
I have to try it, thank you!
Last time there was that big of a Beatle invasion was in the 60's. The only real way to kill of the Beatles is to meet Yoko Ono.
The only reason to burn a hive would be if you had an American Foulbrood infection. Chickens would have made short(er) work on cleaning that mess. Glad to see a new Dirt Rooster video!
(and yes, I did think you forgot!)
I would invite her over but I don't think I could handle her level of crazy.
Yes, she's bat-crap crazy.
I wonder if she knows just how far out there she is. Probably not.
That water in the cooler looks like something you buy at Starbuck's.
This is probably how they make theirs.
That would have made a mine meal for my chickens.
I should have brought a couple of chickens over there with me. :)
i wonder if someone's chickens wouldn't appreciate those beetle grubs. or if fish would eat them. like talapia? i know they both go crazy over mealworms. the reason i ask is because i want to start a beehive or two and if i get hive beetles i wonder if i could feed them to my quail or talapia. please let me know
My chickens will eat them.
what about the hive that was on the verge of dying? was it possible to save it?
Not typically but yes it is possible.
I'm getting into my hive tomorrow. This freaked me out. That is digusing.
Poor bees.
Getting old is pretty scary. Im looking at 50 & just started bees. I think my bees will go in my will, wants & wishes.
I dont care if I go in a dumpster when I die...but take care of my pets.
more people should watch you...
Thanks Ruffin
628DirtRooster i agree
628DirtRooster can you feed the beetle larva to chickens if you have a chicken coop?
Woah that's a mess. Dawn soap and duct tape. The essential tools of mankind. Nice hat! haha have a good one bud.
Can't live without the two. Thanks for watching.
you forgot the fire ant trick... fight fire with fire ha.. that works if you have fireants witch I know you do but if you don't. the way your doing it works. a nother great video.
Oh you know we have the ants. lol Hope Y'all are enjoying the cool weather.
could've fed the chickens all that maggots .
Wish I would have thought of that at the time. Hindsight is 20/20. ;)
sweet revenge.
Mohd Aradi
Man I was just going to add that, put them in a jar and take em to to their death ! Nothing chickens love more than a dirt patch full of bugs, grubs or beetles and when I say beetles I don't mean the ones with the funny hair cut.
kanehunter23 Yeah, the hair makes them gag. ;)
it was like a train wreck... just couldnt quit watching...
lol
i would think a tourch moved along the inside of that hive or dump em out in a pile might of got most of them... dk how flamable that stuff is, or if i could stand a 2-3 second flame without igniting.. but would be intresting to find out...
thanks for another great vid...
How about drop them on the driveway and take a rolling pin to them?
That hive went queenless