Unwanted guests

[sfbeach]

I have four small children so unfortunately, last fall my bees were neglected. Out of three hives, I only got one mouse guard on. One of the other two came through unscathed, but a mice have moved into the third. Do mice eat honey or do they just tear up frames? Should I do something about it on the first nice day in February or should I wait until the weather warms up for good?

Any commentary is appreciated.

[DBAK]

Dear SFbeach,
Mice will chew up comb and tear up frames to make it's nest area. They will eat dead bees and spread feces and urine throughout the hive. If it were my hive, I would open it up on the first warm sunny day when bees are flying and the temps are above 50 degrees. I would have a new hive body and floor next to the hive with the unwanted guest and take all the undamaged frames out and put them in the new hive and get it covered back up as soon as possible. Then you can just put the new hive on the spot where the old hive was and then get rid of all the damaged frames and cleanup the old hive body. I hope that I have given you good infomation. If not, maybe some of the other folks on the BB can give some more. However, that is what I would do. Since you will be in the hive, that would probably be a good time to check on the condition of the queen, brood, food, etc. Best of Luck,

DBAK

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[Admin]

sfbeach -

Seeing that you're from Kentucky and you probably don't have snow covering your hives like I do, go ahead and clean the nest out on the next 50+ degree day you get, as DBAK mentions. Mice usually don't destroy a hive, just make a mess of it. They also carry diseases and care should be taken when you clean out the hive. If you don't have much time or spare wooden ware to switch the frames to, at least pull the nest out (with the mouse) and get a reducer or gaurd on the entrance so no more damage will be done.

Regards,

Lee

[EarthlingBee]

Don't even wait a day! If mice are in your hive, you probably don't have much of live beehive anymore. Every day you wait they'll just tear out more of your comb making a gross mess in their wake.

If you pull off the top super/deep, you'll see the bees keep far away from the mouse nest (i.e. bees in the top, mice in the bottom). Get rid of the damaged super & replace it by moving the hive-body with bees directly down to the bottom board.

Make sure your mouseguard is no bigger than 1/2". If needed,make one with hardware cloth and attach using drywall screws.

If you don't want to risk getting stung in sub-60 weather, place a few mousetraps on the bottom board with a bit of peanut butter (they can't resist). Repeat each day.

Matthew Westall - Earthling Bees, Castle Rock, CO