Help are these droppings from my hive?

[Smallbeehive]

Can anybody advise on what they could be from and if these are droppings on the inspection board?

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[Swarm]

Could be Earwig or Wax Moth, bit more like Earwig to me.

 

[Smallbeehive]

Could be Earwig or Wax Moth, bit more like Earwig to me.

Thanks, is it a problem? Do I need to do anything?

 

[Swarm]

Earwigs are not a problem, Wax Moth is usually more of a problem in stored frames, where the larvae have free run. They will ruin whole boxes of comb.
A colony will normally keep on top of them unless the colony is small, leaving frames unpatrolled.
How strong is your colony? You could do a quick inspection and look for signs of web tunnels. If they are large and thriving, I'd be more inclined to think it was just Earwig droppings.

 

[Smallbeehive]

I am not sure how strong a hive they are as I have nothing to compare it too but they do seem to be thriving, I am slightly worried it was a mouse in there because we have a few where I am that the cats catch often and I showed a friend who said they looked like mouse droppings

 

[Swarm]

You can do an easy test, squash one between thumb and finger.

Mouse droppings are not as uniform in shape and a few mm's long. Earwig and Wax Moth are similar, about this size ... --

 

[Smallbeehive]

You can do an easy test, squash one between thumb and finger.

Mouse droppings are not as uniform in shape and a few mm's long. Earwig and Wax Moth are similar, about this size ... --

Thanks, so by squashing the dropping how do I rule out mouse droppings ?

 

[Swarm]

Is this a colony you had as a nuc this year? If it was in Spring/early Summer, I'd expect them to be bouncing now, if it was a late nuc, recently hived, then perhaps dummying them down into a smaller space would be better.

How many brood frames were there when you last inspected and when was that?

As an example, I took two September nucs into Winter in National hives on nine frames with a 50mm insulated follower board.

 

[Swarm]

Thanks, so by squashing the dropping how do I rule out mouse droppings ?

You can tell Mammal poo and it smells
Those in the photo are much too uniform, like thin rectangles and I'm trying to judge the size by comparing them with the Varroa.

 

[For want of a better word]

Thanks, so by squashing the dropping how do I rule out mouse droppings ?

Sniff them... mouse droppings smell like mouse droppings**... earwig droppings smell like earwig droppings I suppose?

Chons da

** amonia wiff

 

[enrico]

Mouse droppings taste like marmite!!!!!!

 

[Repwoc]

Mouse droppings taste like marmite!!!!!!

Or vice-versa.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Mouse droppings taste like marmite!!!!!!

Funnily enough, there's a converation going on on the ex customs officer's Farcebook chat room about the Thames sludge boats that plied the river, transporting human effluent from Crossness sewage works out to the North sea to be dumped - we used to affectionately refer to them as the Bovril boats

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Funnily enough, there's a converation going on on the ex customs officer's Farcebook chat room about the Thames sludge boats that plied the river, transporting human effluent from Crossness sewage works out to the North sea to be dumped - we used to affectionately refer to them as the Bovril boats

I was on a charter boat with my cousin many years ago, fishing for codling off Canvey Island near the mouth of the Thames. Suddenly the water colour changed from muddy brown/grey to dark black. The sludge boat had just gone past and we reckoned that the skipper wanted to get home early so started dumping in the river rather than waiting until he got out to the Black Deep. In those days the Environment Agency was not very good at enforcement work so the sludge boats - Bovril boats - got away with murder.

Life was so much simpler when we didn't know we were killing the planet!

CVB

 

[Erichalfbee]

Life was so much simpler when we didn't know we were killing the planet!

CVB

Ignorance is bliss
I and many people my age are trying to make a difference but what does upset me is some youngsters having a go at folk my age never being “green” and causing all the problems.
Green?
We never had plastic to dispose of. Our fruit and veg came from either the local market or McFisheries or an embryonic Sainsbury’s and was supplied un a paper bag. Our milk was delivered in glass bottles by electric vehicle. Fizzy pop was in similar glass with money back when you returned the empties. We had local butchers with our meat coming from within five miles of the shop.
I know this all sounds very “Hovis” but that’s all we knew and it really grates that youngsters think they invented “Green” when we always were but progress has made us “Not Green”
Rant over

 

[For want of a better word]

Ignorance is bliss
I and many people my age are trying to make a difference but what does upset me is some youngsters having a go at folk my age never being “green” and causing all the problems.
Green?
We never had plastic to dispose of. Our fruit and veg came from either the local market or McFisheries or an embryonic Sainsbury’s and was supplied un a paper bag. Our milk was delivered in glass bottles by electric vehicle. Fizzy pop was in similar glass with money back when you returned the empties. We had local butchers with our meat coming from within five miles of the shop.
I know this all sounds very “Hovis” but that’s all we knew and it really grates that youngsters think they invented “Green” when we always were but progress has made us “Not Green”
Rant over

Yes indeed... the soppy envirobrats of today did not invent environmentalism.. that was in 1962 with Silent Spring!

Yeghes da

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes indeed... the soppy envirobrats of today did not invent environmentalism.. that was in 1962 with Silent Spring!

Yeghes da

Crikey, yes, Rachel Carson. I still have my copy

 

[The Poot in Somerset]

I was amused that the Swedish Eco warrior sailed to th U.S. in a state of the art carbon fibre sailing yacht. Ever looked up how carbon fibre is made and disposed of?

Most of the "celeb" Eco warriors chase around the planet in executive jets to tell us to reduce our carbon footprint. Including our famous Royal princes.
Does me in!