Mouseguards

[PhilM]

So in my introduction post I raised concerns about damage to my polynuc around the alighting platform and the enterance, it was highlighted that I could have rodent issues. The area the colony is in does have a high field mice population and there is groundworks to erect a new warehouse that would be disturbing them.

To help protect them I've spun the entrance dial to the queen excluder, is this correct?

I've also moved my 14x12 cedar hive to the same site, concerned with rodents I've added a mouse guard as below photo, enterance was already partially blocked with foam, so removed some foam make it about 3 mouseguards holes wide. Is this okay or should I remove more foam?

I have the varrora board in currently to manage temperature and haven't yet made a really reduced enterance block which I will do before the season is out.

Checking the varrora board (plywood not cortex) there is some moisture evident below the brood area but it is tacky so assuming related to feeding, is it normal?

 

[Amari]

I find one of these effective....... Failing that, your mouse guards look good and I wouldn't worry about some damp on the varroa board

 

[Gilberdyke John]

So in my introduction post I raised concerns about damage to my polynuc around the alighting platform and the enterance, it was highlighted that I could have rodent issues. The area the colony is in does have a high field mice population and there is groundworks to erect a new warehouse that would be disturbing them.

To help protect them I've spun the entrance dial to the queen excluder, is this correct?

I've also moved my 14x12 cedar hive to the same site, concerned with rodents I've added a mouse guard as below photo, enterance was already partially blocked with foam, so removed some foam make it about 3 mouseguards holes wide. Is this okay or should I remove more foam?

I have the varrora board in currently to manage temperature and haven't yet made a really reduced enterance block which I will do before the season is out.

Checking the varrora board (plywood not cortex) there is some moisture evident below the brood area but it is tacky so assuming related to feeding, is it normal?

I very much doubt anything made of a variety plastic is going to have much deterrent effect on rodent teeth.

 

[PhilM]

There are birds of prey in the area

Valid point on plastic Vs teeth, I could swap to a metal dial but fail to see the benefit with a poly box

 

[Ely]

I find one of these effective....... Failing that, your mouse guards look good and I wouldn't worry about some damp on the varroa board
View attachment 41961

Lovely owl

 

[RJC]

On the disk mouse guard then I usually secure with a drawing pin to keep it at the setting I want; they have a tendency to loosen over time. On the hive then I would remove all the foam behind the mouse guard, to keep the entrance open. If not there is a risk that the smaller entrance might clog up with dead bees over the winter, unless regularly checked of course.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I would remove all the foam behind the mouse guard, to keep the entrance open. If not there is a risk that the smaller entrance might clog up with dead bees over the winter

- good sense which should be passed on to all beginners - if mouseguards are being deployed, all entrance blocks and such like should be removed (and let's not menmtion the village idiots who put in entrance blocks upside down overwinter to make it harder to clear out the dead.

 

[ericbeaumont]

varrora board in currently to manage temperature

The varroa board is used for two weeks a year to calculate varroa drop and for the rest of the year it should sit in a shed, although for rooftop hives or those on a windy hillside, it would be useful in winter to prevent wind gusting into the hive.

If you want colonies to conserve heat (and the energy needed to produce it) use poly hives rather than wood, and if you use wood, seal and insulate the crownboard & roof.

 

[alancooper]

I keep the varroa board in most of the winter as a windbreak. The drawback is that a proportion of varroa falling through the mesh floor return to the colony. An advantage may be increased water condensation on the inside walls of the hive made available for bees to access crystallised Ivy honey. I presume that the net impact on the colony is positive but cannot show this is the case.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The drawback is that a proportion of varroa falling through the mesh floor return to the colony.

Very few live varroa fall through the OMF anyway, the vast majority are dead and struggle to climb any distance.
Unless you treat for varroa by sublimating from below the floor, using OMF as a means to reduce varroa, is an oft repeated myth

 

[ericbeaumont]

OMF as a means to reduce varroa, is an oft repeated myth

Agreed. I reckon it was another diversification ploy by suppliers after someone, somewhere, suggested 10 or 15% of groomed varroa would fall through the mesh. Has anyone ever seen the research that came up with those figures?

 

[alancooper]

Very few live varroa fall through the OMF anyway, the vast majority are dead and struggle to climb any distance.
Unless you treat for varroa by sublimating from below the floor, using OMF as a means to reduce varroa, is an oft repeated myth

Good to hear that the living mites struggle to return. Maybe I have been influenced too much by (from memory) statements advising of mites “climbing back up”. Who knows?