My Story.... Please Read

[Chef Isaac]

(This might be somehwat long but there is a point in here... somewhere...)

It all started when I would look through the beekeeping catalogs and go into the bee supply stores and see those silly little mouse guards and say"who needs those".

Today was awesome... 60 degrees and I had the day off. I woke up and my work called. "The baker called in sick" one of my chefs said. I said "Call my sous chef or tell the GM when he comes in." I was NOT going to work on a nice day like this. I had a lot planned with the bees.

So since my wife and I do not get to spend much time together due to our industries we work in, she and I spent some time together with the bees. We drove out to the bee yard with the intent of picking up the dead outs so I can clean them today.

Alone in the first row sits hive number 1. It is a dead out I discovered a few weeks ago and I "closed" up the entrance so no bees could rob it out. It was a good hive.. produced a lot of honey last summer. It had two deeps on it.

So I crack the first deep on top so I can move it and I see a mouse. So I did as my grandfather did... killed the **** out of it. Grandpa would be proud. So I took took the deep off and found another mouse. Did the same thing as to the first.

At this time, I did not mind taking the deep apart away from the bottom board because I forgot the screw driver and they are connected for eas of moving. I put the bottom board and connect deep on my hand truck and brought it to the back of the VW bug where my wife was standing. I was about ready to heft it into the car when my wife screamed bloody murder. She saw a mouse. So I hit the back of the box a few times and a mouse ran out. Didnt mind killing it because I was hungery for lunch and wanted to go. So I lefted it again and she screamed again. I put it down and was somewhat pissed she screamed again. She saw another mouse. So I started taking some frames out and a mouse ran out. Didnt kill it. I put the frames back and as I put the last frame in, she yelled again. I was somewhat annoyed at this point. I started taking frames out again and these are wooden frames from a hive I bought from someone and they were rotten and the top bars were coming apart. Not good. So finally... another mouse ran out. This one was heading for another hive until I through my hive tool at it and killed it. I searched the hive as per my wifes deadly threat and there was non. I cleaned out all the entrances of the other hives and all was done.

A few leasons learned here:

1- If cleaning out the bottom board of a hive and you find other things but dead bees like grass and moltch looking stuff... you probobly have mice.

2- if looking at a bee store and find mosue guards.. dont laugh. remember my story!!

3- Inspite of hunger.. always listen to your wife.

4- a truck is far superior than a VW bug for moving bees

5- do not think entrance reducers will detour mice. I had one on this hive and still found mice.

by the way... all th hives look good. For the most part, all the bees from the hives were flying. It was a GREAT DAY.

Off to clean those dead outs!!

[peggjam]

"This one was heading for another hive until I through my hive tool at it and killed it."

Never thought of a hive tool as a throwing weapon, how far away was the mouse, and remind me never to piss you off when your holding a hive tool!!!!!!LOL

[Matthias Smith]

I relate to your story,I found a dead hive with mice in it a few months ago. My dog was standing nearby and ate the mice as I knocked them out of the hive. Unfortunatly one got away and into another hive, it was to cold out for me to open up the hive so I couldn't do anything. When it warmed up a week or so ago I finally opened the hive up and found that this hive was also dead and had a big mouse nest taking up a few frames. Needless to say I am planning on making or buying mouse gaurds soon.

[drobbins]

this is supposed to be a picture of bees bringing in pollen during this unusually mild winter but it also shows a poor mans mouse guard

http://www.drobbins.net/bee's/pollen/DSC01255.JPG

#4 hardware cloth, ACE Hardware

Dave

[Michael Bush]

Sometimes the mice kill the hive. Sometimes they move in after it's dead. Either way they make a horrible mess. I find them sometimes in supers I didn't seal up well, but I never find them in hives anymore. smile.gif My entrances are way to far off the ground now. smile.gif #4 hardware cloth is my favorite mouse guard too.

[BjornBee]

Mites eat bees. Beetles eat mites. Mice eats beetles. Man eats mice.

Your a chef. I'm sure some imagination can turn lemons into lemonade..... :eek:

[drobbins]

MB,

you're who told me to use it ;)
at first I was afraid it was to small, but the bees go thru it fine
it does knock a lot of pollen off their legs
I'm surprised they don't seem to go salvage it
it's laying on the landing board

Dave

[drobbins]

Bjorn,

getting a little anxious for spring are we smile.gif

Dave

[Chef Isaac]

I cleaned the dead outs. The deep and the frames that had the mice reaked of urine so I am throwing those away. I do have a few questions:

1- I do not have a freezer and a lot of the hives had honey capped over. Normally I would spray with certain and bag them up and place in the garage like the supers but is it nessasary to bag them up this time of year since I will be using them come April and they will be stored in the garage?

2- I have deeps with drawn out foundation and some with honey capped in them. Would it behoove me to place a package of bees in a deep with drawn out foundation and capped honey versus all foundation granting I am sure there was no deseases?

3- One of the supers had all capped honey but while I was looking at the supers, I noticed brown/blackish streakes on the frames. I assume this is nosema. Is it ok still to use the super to feed bees in the spring time as long as I treat for nosema?

4- If I wanted to salvage the urine smelling bottom board and deep, is there anything I can do?

[Chef Isaac]

by the way, I was 4 feet away with the hive tool. (grandpa taught us how to throw knives when we were younger)

[tecumseh]

the chef ask:
4- If I wanted to salvage the urine smelling bottom board and deep, is there anything I can do?

tecumseh thinking out loud adds:
throwing you hive tool at it probably will not help.

they tell me that tomato juice will neutralize dog urine smell, never really tried it myself. I would likely set it out in the weather for a while and just let nature do it's thing.

[Ross]

Scrub with TSP. Seal with shellac. Tomato juice works great on a skunked dog. Might work on this too. Vinegar might too.

[BjornBee]

How about using a propane torch to burn or scorch the areas soaked with the urine?

[George Fergusson]

>never really tried it myself.

It would probably work on you as well smile.gif

I say leave `em out in the sun and rain for a few three weeks. Nothing like ultraviolet radiation and the ultimate solvent.

[Michael Bush]

For mouse urine, I always hose them down well, then if its really bad, follow up with a pot of boiling water then leave them in the rain and weather for while to air out.

[carbide]

Since the winter olympics have just begun in Italy, I was wondering if they still carry hive tool throwing as an olympic sport? Or do they only do that in the summer olympics?

[Aspera]

I think that hive tool throwing may be more of a Highland Games type event.

[forestbee]

Mike,

Do you use the #4 hardware cloth with enter reducer? I wonder if I used it with enter reducer will the bee be able to clean the hive during the winter from dead bees or it will soon be clogged? This may be a problem for me since I don’t use upper entrances during the winter.