Any good ideas re mouseguard?

[Cazza]

Hi team. I've run out of mouseguards but don't really want to order any more. Any ideas for guards made out of something I can make or buy locally?
Ta.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

use entrance blocks that are only a beespace high - no need for mouseguards then, otherwise just use panel pins and tack them across the front of the entrance a beespace apart.

 

[viesest]

 

[Curly green finger's]

 

[Foxylad]

Sent you a pm Cazza

 

[Barbarian]

From my local scrapyard I got a piece of perforated metal. The holes are too small for bees to get through. I cut strips about the same size as standard mouseguards. I use pushpins to secure to the hive, leaving a beespace entrance below the bottom edge.

The guard does not pollen-strip returning bees or prevent bees from carrying out bodies. I tilt the hive forward and this prevents mouldy debris on the floor.

 

[user 819]

Quite a few of the forum beeks dispense with MG's altogether and incorporate an underfloor entrance design to the hive (UFE), with a max 8-9mm deep entrance no need to faff about each year.

 

[Murox]

Quite a few of the forum beeks dispense with MG's altogether and incorporate an underfloor entrance design to the hive (UFE), with a max 8-9mm deep entrance no need to faff about each year.

Yes, and the floor of the swienty poly hive is designed to provide an 8/9mm entrance across the width of the box.
? Is it time to invent a new wooden hive ??

 

[W0otz]

Yes, and the floor of the swienty poly hive is designed to provide an 8/9mm entrance across the width of the box.
? Is it time to invent a new wooden hive ??

 

[user 819]

The UFE is not a hive it is a floor component, we are talking of diy component part one can quite easily make for any hive type to suit ones needs whether solid floor, part mesh or full mesh. They have advantages of nor needing to faff with mouse guards and are a deterrent against wasps.

 

[Poly Hive]

I use 6mm ply with 8mm holes. Not failed yet.

PH

 

[Garry R]

Hi team. I've run out of mouseguards but don't really want to order any more. Any ideas for guards made out of something I can make or buy locally


Try plastic excluder cut ino strips and pin them on the brood box- no worries about queens getting out at this time of the year. OR just use an 8mm x 120mm entrance all year round to keep out the furry "friends". I use a landing flight board too - saves bees falling to the ground on arrival and having to struggle out of the undergrowth fully laden. Basically anything that avoids energy expenditure on the bees part translates to a bigger crop. No worries about over heating in the summer with open mesh floors too.
Ta.

 

[Stiffy]

I’ve used this trunking in a size to fit your entrance gaps and the cover will slide to close off the hive. Just cut to them to size with a few holes and if you drill the holes offset , they are also good to keep wasps at bay.
https://www.screwfix.com/c/electrical-lighting/cable-trunking/cat1910006S

 

[Arfermo]

Quite a few of the forum beeks dispense with MG's altogether and incorporate an underfloor entrance design to the hive (UFE), with a max 8-9mm deep entrance no need to faff about each year.

When I started beekeeping I accepted the advice in places like this and bought MGs. But when I put all my hives on 12" slender high homemade wooden stands on 18" paving slabs and the entrance was well above ground level I chucked the MGs away and have never ever had a problem. Worry about a problem when there is one!!!