Badgers? (nothing to do with culling!)

[steve115cbr]

Dear all, After three years of keeping my bees at the bottom of the garden, my wife has decided that it is time to move them! A local land owner has kindly offered me a site that ticks all the boxes except he tells me there are a lot of Badgers on his land and he has seen them digging up bumble bee nests in the past. He is happy for me to fence the hives off if I want but there is no lifestock anywhere near the site not no public access.
Has anyone heard of or experienced any trouble with Badgers disturbing hives???

 

[Hivemaker.]

Couple of threads below for a starter.

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=13357&highlight=badger+poly

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=20734

 

[ratcatcher]

Id simply put a fence around them, electric ones can be picked up pretty cheap and run off a car battery, you'd just need two batteries so you could swap over each visit or so

 

[hedgerow pete]

badgers love honey and bee grubs so make sure its a strong fence, they can do get damage when given the chance, the fence only needs to be standard c80 sheep netting dont use chicken wire they break through it, and burry the base.

or build strong hive stands they cant reach up to disturb instead of a fence,

badgers aswell as foxes will gaurd a wasp nest under ground durring the year untill it suits them and them they rip it open to get the grubs inside it,

 

[drstitson]

some friends were recently woken by an almighty din during the night.
turned out it was badger smashing it's way through a not too flimsy outhouse door to get at neighbour's ducklings.

 

[Iang]

In the interests of balance and in the badger's defence....!
My mentor has an out apiary located within a few metres of a badger sett for many years and has never had any problem with them.
Lucky? Unusual? Don't know but it is true

 

[steve115cbr]

Thanks everyone for your replies. My friend the land owner has some thick wire fence panels that i can use and the hives are going on a large concrete base so I think I will take up his offer and put some fencing around them.
Thanks again

 

[poshpikey]

My hives are very near an area that badgers dig up for worms/grubs. The hives have been okay for eighteen months. This last week one has been attacked by a badger. It has chewed/scratched the front of the hive around the entrance. Luckily it did not knock the hive over. I think I had better put a strap on the hive until I can get some electric fencing sorted out?

 

[whoosling]

I don't want to tempt fate but mine have badger sets just above them and haven't yet been a problem, one of the beeks at my assoc. has lived with badgers around his hive for years and has never had a problem, he says you must be scupulously clean though.

 

[madasafish]

Huge (20+) badger sett within 1 km of our house. Lots of badger tracks.. the only thing destroyed up to now is my complete strawberry bed. Badgers LOVE strawberries. Bees untouched so far.


Lots of foxes as well.. trap and shoot job. Lots of holes in lawn through foxes digging for worms...

 

[drfraz]

Strawberries? I thought that your potatoes would be more at risk!
View attachment 8257

 

[madasafish]

Lots of food around here in late summer so potatoes OK so far.

Foxes eating tulip bulbs just now... judging by the number they leave, not very tasty.Den in field behind our garden.

 

[Luminos]

Lots of food around here in late summer so potatoes OK so far.

Foxes eating tulip bulbs just now... judging by the number they leave, not very tasty.Den in field behind our garden.

Is Den going to replant them for you

 

[Erichalfbee]

From my apiary......
Hives seem ok but they are on stands sunk into the ground on fenceposts.