Oh No. Not a mouse in the Hive!

[charlievictorbravo]

As it turns out it wasn't. I took the monitoring boards out yesterday and found what looked like mouse droppings. This was a bit worrying because all my hives have underfloor entrances and mice aren't supposed to be able to get through them, according to JMB. This particular UFE was the first I'd made and I could not remember the vertical gap I'd created so this morning I made another, using what materials I had available and was very near with the vertical gap - 8.5mm.

When the temperature finally crept up to 14° this afternoon, I got myself suited and booted (I was strangely nervous - first inspection of the year) and opened up the mousy hive. NO MOUSE!!! but what I did find was about half a dozen slugs on the open mesh floor. As there was no mouse, I assume the droppings I saw were from the slugs. I switched the UFE for the new one and I'll check out the old one for tolerances when the bees finally vacate it and return to the hive.

Can anybody confirm what slug droppings look like?

CVB

 

[BeeJayBee]

Can anybody confirm what slug droppings look like?

Link > Slug droppings

Link > Mouse droppings

 

[Poly Hive]

Normal mice evidence is a huge mess on the floor of broken comb, grass and so on not to mention a nest in the back combs of the hive.

Frankly pretty obvious.

PH

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Link > Slug droppings

Link > Mouse droppings

Doh! Google - of course!

Thanks for taking the trouble - there is a remarkable similarity at first sight.

CVB

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Normal mice evidence is a huge mess on the floor of broken comb, grass and so on not to mention a nest in the back combs of the hive.

Frankly pretty obvious.

PH

Having never had experience of a mouse in a hive, IT WAS NOT OBVIOUS TO ME! and stop calling me frankly!

CVB

 

[Bee Bumble]

[QUOTE and stop calling me frankly!

CVB[/QUOTE]

It is better than Surely.

 

[BeeJayBee]

pretty obvious.

To somebody who's seen it before, yes, but not to a first-timer.

And mice don't always make a mess, sometimes they just go into a hive overnight when it's cold and leave quickly in the morning - which they could have done here last night because there was a very heavy frost that left water frozen until about eleven.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

To somebody who's seen it before, yes, but not to a first-timer.

And mice don't always make a mess, sometimes they just go into a hive overnight when it's cold and leave quickly in the morning - which they could have done here last night because there was a very heavy frost that left water frozen until about eleven.

When I did not find a mouse, the thought of an overnight visitor did cross my mind. This morning I cleaned and checked the old underfloor entrance and found a vertical entrance gap of 7.5mm, which no mouse could have climbed through so I'm now convinced it was the slugs that left the droppings.

I hope other inexperienced beeks have learned something too!

CVB

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

When I did not find a mouse, the thought of an overnight visitor did cross my mind. This morning I cleaned and checked the old underfloor entrance and found a vertical entrance gap of 7.5mm, which no mouse could have climbed through so I'm now convinced it was the slugs that left the droppings.

I hope other inexperienced beeks have learned something too!

CVB

At least now you do know your sh!t