Mouse guards

[Levitt53]

When should mouseguards be removed? Have all the mice hibernated now or as we've had the odd warm day might they still be awake and a threat to the hive? I'm thinking that maybe if I should have removed it it would be easier for the bees to dump dead bees outside. Or does it stay in place for another couple of months?

 

[Millet]

Mice do not hibernate..

 

[Millet]

Post 6 on this link is a picture of my Wasp and Mouse Guard, it stays in place all year and is never removed.

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38107&highlight=Tunnel+entrance

 

[george]

I wait till the end of March , however I have full width guards .
If you run a restricted entrance with a mouse guard in front of it there can be a bit of congestion out front on warmer days .

 

[Levitt53]

I wait till the end of March , however I have full width guards .
If you run a restricted entrance with a mouse guard in front of it there can be a bit of congestion out front on warmer days .

Ok I'll leave it be. I have one wooden hive with a restricted entrance but also a poly hive with the 4 hole set up. The congestion is worse on that but there is no way to avoid that unless you open up the entrance completely.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Or does it stay in place for another couple of months?

Best left until the risk of prolonged frosty periods have finished.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ok I'll leave it be. I have one wooden hive with a restricted entrance but also a poly hive with the 4 hole set up. The congestion is worse on that but there is no way to avoid that unless you open up the entrance completely.

Yes, I think these are useless and have replaced mine with a wooden one. The slot is bee space height so doesn't need a mouse guard

 

[MartinL]

Local Hedgehogs were still active at Christmas and they do hibernate.


Mice on allotment have been too busy eating my beetroot to be interested in risking being stung for honey! + now the shed is no longer close to the hives mice seem to prefer the underside of the shed.

Hives on/in roof have the guards ready nearby but haven't bothered while it's still warm up there.

If I do put them on, don't bother removing until the spring build.

 

[drex]

I remove only when the bees are consistently active. They are then their own mouse guards

 

[Millet]

I remove only when the bees are consistently active. They are then their own mouse guards

I leave my mouse guard in, it helps when the wasps start chancing there luck.

 

[snelgrove]

I removed guards early March last year with the result of 2 mice getting in the colony was weak but the mice finished them off. Will be in no rush this year.
Meant to upload a photo with this post but file failed to upload

 

[user 6228]

I wait till the end of March , however I have full width guards .
If you run a restricted entrance with a mouse guard in front of it there can be a bit of congestion out front on warmer days .

I cant see the underside where you have routed. Is it
just a simple straight cut front to back?

 

[Barbarian]

Manley Mouse Guard

I prefer the kind of guard mentioned in " Honey Farming ".

It is a strip of perforated metal fixed across the entrance leaving a bee space below the bottom edge. The advantages are ..... ventilation, no pollen stripping, and the entrance doesn't get blocked with dead bees.
A tilted floor also gets a dry floor.

 

[Stiffy]

Remove when bees become regularly active, leaving on creates a needless obstruction and risks pollen being stripped as bees struggle through.
S

 

[Poly Hive]

A well designed poly has an 8mm entrance and hence no need for a mouse guard. Beware thought that some have reinvented the wheel and missed this out.

PH

 

[MartinL]

A well designed poly has an 8mm entrance and hence no need for a mouse guard. Beware thought that some have reinvented the wheel and missed this out.

PH

Firstly, I think you may find that 8mm height is little more than a "bit of a squeeze" for the little buggers.

And polystyrene is so much stronger than wood that it's impregnable to rodents??????