Easily Eradicate Red Legged Ham Beetles

Protect your Dermestid Beetle colony with our all natural, scent beads. Our proprietary blend of essential oils repels Red-Legged Ham Beetles after just two treatments.

They are safe, easy to use, and quick with treatments taking less than 12 hours. And they do not pose a threat to Dermestid Beetles.

"A scent they hate, a scent you'll love!"

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Why Beads?

Why choose Red-Legged Beetle Beads?  Because it's the only product on the market that when used properly, will eradicate red-legged ham beetles from a place they'd love to call home.

When used properly, these beads pose no threat to dermestid beetles and will cause the ham beetles to want to leave your colony instead of drawing them in with a trap that simply isn't effective.

Quick Results

Quick results that repel Ham Beetles from your valuable colonies after just two treatments.

Easy and Safe to Use

Simply apply scent beads in included mesh bags to your colony, directly on top of the bedding for no more than 12 hours. When used properly Red-Legged Beetle Beads pose no threat to your existing colonies.

Save Time and Money

Stop rebuilding colonies from scratch, and keep Ham Beetles away from other products you don't want infested as well.

Reuse Multiple Times

Red-Legged Beetle Beads can be used multiple times if needed. If the beads still release a pleasant fragrance to humans, they will still be offensive to Ham Beetles.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I use Red-Legged Beetle Beads?

  1. Remove all bones, food sources, and heavy bedding build up from the dermestid’s habitat.
  2. De-energize all heating and ventilation accessories for the colony.
  3. Apply scent beads in included mesh bags to the colony, directly on top of the bedding. Leave for no longer than 12 hours. The colonies lid should be left open for easy escape, and air temps should be below 77º.
  4. Remove the scent beads, close the lid, and re-energize heat and ventilation sources.
  5. Repeat steps 1-4 in 5 days to expel Ham Beetles that may have hatched during this time period.

What are Red-Legged Beetle Beads made of?

Our beads are made from a proprietary blend of all-natural essential oils that while pleasant smelling to humans, are repelling to Ham Beetles.

Will these harm my Dermestid Beetles?

No. When used for no more than 12 hours at a time, Red-Legged Beetle Beads will not harm your existing colonies.

My colony has several inches of frags and bedding, do I need to bury the mesh bags?

It's best if you remove a lot of the old bedding and frass. If you have that much, transfer bedding and frass to individual containers, and treat the containers. You can then use the time to fully clean out the enclosure.

Can I leave skulls and bones in the colony while I use this product?

No, all food sources should be removed. We are trying to create an undesirable situation for the ham beetles.

Will ham beetles return to my colony?

It's very possible. Once you've eliminated them from your colony, you should take extra measures to ensure the enclosure is sealed the best you can. We also recommend keeping these Red-Legged Beetle Beads outside the enclosure, heavily used and spread out to provide an undesirable presence.

I'm worried about dermestids escaping while I use these beads.  Is it fine to keep the lid closed?

No, keep the lid to the colonies enclosure open. It's best if the temperature is below 77 degrees.  We want an easy escape for the ham beetles.

Hear it from our customers!

"After 6 hours of introducing the scent bag, I found no remaining ham beetles and the dermestids were all fine with no casualties."

Jesse Osbeck | Elliotsburg, PA

"I've been battling hams for several months; started with smashing, then emptying the colony and tried to evict them based on temp for a week or so with some results but still had beetles emerging when returned to the enclosure. Even attempted to stress them and cool the colony down for a week or so and still ended up with more hams after the cold temp stress. I put this product in and shortly after I watched hams running to get out of the area. Cleared the colony and waited about a week to do it again with only a couple visible adults and they quickly vacated. This most likely will need to be repeated several times until they are free of larvae, but I've had better success with this than any other method of removal."

Scott Whitehead | Fowlerville, Michigan

Red-Legged Beetle Beads

Red-Legged Beetle Beads 17oz Jar

A proprietary blend of all-natural, essential oils infused in scent beads designed and tested specifically to eliminate red-legged ham beetles. That cozy dermestid beetle colony loaded with an all you can eat buffet will quickly turn into that old musty motel with no continental breakfast for them. They will will pack their bags and hit the road! Once the unwanted, disgusted guests have left, the product can be removed and your dermestid utopia can resume!

17oz jar of Beetle Beads with 10 reusable mesh bags for application, included.

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$49.99 USD
$49.99 USD
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About Karl Popek

I'm Karl Popek, co-founder of Beetle Beads and owner of Rock Ridge Resurrections in West Seneca, NY where I also reside with my wife Erin, our two kids and two dogs.

I'm a Navy veteran from the OIF/OEF conflicts and now work as a mechanic. My passion for the outdoors and lack of funding for traditional taxidermy mounts eventually led me to start processing European mounts for myself and my hunting buddies, which turned into a full time side business.

I've been working with Dermestid beetles since 2013 and clean 3,000-5,000 skulls per year of various species using these beetles.


The proprietary blend I found to help fight red-legged ham beetles has been a game-changer for me, and I'm certain it can help your colonies, too.