Poly nuc

[sharonh]

Hi, I have a polystyrene six frame nuc. It has an entrance dial which turns to different sections, closed with vent holes, fully opened, Q excluder section. Question I have is, how do I stop mice gaining entry over winter. Would the Q excluder section over the entrance work to keep them out. The entrance hole into the nuc is about an inch in diameter , so with the Q excluder part of the dial over this, would mice get through,or is there something else that would work better?

 

[blackcavebees]

Hi, I have a polystyrene six frame nuc. It has an entrance dial which turns to different sections, closed with vent holes, fully opened, Q excluder section. Question I have is, how do I stop mice gaining entry over winter. Would the Q excluder section over the entrance work to keep them out. The entrance hole into the nuc is about an inch in diameter , so with the Q excluder part of the dial over this, would mice get through,or is there something else that would work better?

Mouseguards sold for full hives are bigger than QEx holes, so I would think QEx on dial would suffice.

 

[drstitson]

"Would the Q excluder section over the entrance work to keep them out"

yes. or you can buy a single perforated mouseguard and cut it into pieces to pin across the entrances of several nucs.



at least the mark 2 nuc has a hole on the side so a dial can be used - the old style needed an intricately bent piece of QE or perforated mouseguard to close it off.

 

[Swarm]

Guards are all very well but they can gnaw the poly too.

 

[Tom Bick]

Yes I was thinking dont mice have pretty good teeth.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Hi, I have a polystyrene six frame nuc. It has an entrance dial which turns to different sections, closed with vent holes, fully opened, Q excluder section. Question I have is, how do I stop mice gaining entry over winter. Would the Q excluder section over the entrance work to keep them out. The entrance hole into the nuc is about an inch in diameter , so with the Q excluder part of the dial over this, would mice get through,or is there something else that would work better?

Put it on a single post platform with sufficient height and overhang to stop the little b's getting to the hive.

 

[sharonh]

That has given me food for thought,.. Might have to make a wire mesh frame to fit over it, and just over hang the front so they won't be able to get at it to chew. Would have bought a wooden nuc if thought I'd have this problem. I have a spare mouse guard, so will cut a short piece for over entrance to be on safe side. Thank you all for your suggestions... much appreciated as always

 

[Madge]

Perhaps you can reduce the Open slot somewhat to one or two bee spaces by just sliding the disc a bit further.

To be secure against mice a round hole should be no more than 9.5mm in diameter and a slot no higher than 6mm (I think I got these measurements from Hooper).

 

[Madge]

That has given me food for thought,.. Might have to make a wire mesh frame to fit over it ...

I have heard of rats being a problem to poly hives - not sure about mice.

I haven't yet overwintered bees in one of the hives you mentioned, but I have other polyhives and so far only one hive suffered from mouse gnawings. It was a MB nucleus and the mice gnawed at the underside of the hive. It caused no damage to the inside of the hive or to the bees.

Kitta

 

[oliver90owner]

There are thousands of polyhives in use; do we hear of rampant mice-gnawing? No, we don't. So it should not be a problem with a good nuc either.

 

[sail819]

There are thousands of polyhives in use; do we hear of rampant mice-gnawing? No, we don't. So it should not be a problem with a good nuc either.

Totally agree! I have had no problems with mice chewing.

 

[pargyle]

Mice will have a nibble at just about anything but usually give up if they find it isn't worth eating or they don't get easy access to a food source as a result of their gnawing. It would need to be a pretty determined mouse to gnaw through a poly hive ...

 

[Tom Bick]

Yes a very determined mouse and perhaps a hungry one at that. I don't know but what are the circular discs made of at the entrance? If plastic perhaps a small hole is reasonably easy to make it a bit larger?

 

[sharonh]

That would be a great idea Tom, I could bore a hole one bee space into one part of the dial. That should work perfect. Thank you

 

[itma]

It can be quite important that the 'dial' does not accidentally rotate.

I always use a map pin jabbed through one of the ventilation section holes, because, being smallest, they allow the least movement of the dial.

 

[itma]

And on a different aspect - when pecker-proofing your poly hives (and nucs)don't forget to guard the roof as well as the sides. Without metalwork, the roof is as vulnerable as the sides.

And Payns poly nuc roof would benefit from some extra top insulation - the roof is thinner than the walls...

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It can be quite important that the 'dial' does not accidentally rotate.
.

Had a Kieler nuc with a feeder full of fondant which i didn't use in the end but was out in the stack at the apiary with the disc closed. Went to get it yesterday to take out the fondant to give a quick feed to a nuc which I don't want taking syrup yet - feeder empty and nuc full of wasps!!

 

[Swarm]

After looking at the mouse damage to one of my poly nucs, only a couple of days ago, I was quite surprised at the amount of material it/they had removed. The damage was to the front corner, around and under to one of the feet.
Perhaps I was lucky it wasn't one of the rampant variety.

 

[Nic Rhodes]

I lost seveal Paynespoly nucs to mice last winter. They did not naw the poly, just came through the front door! The nucs (mk2) with the dial entrance were fine so I am in the process of closing the original entrance on the Mk1s and fitting the entrance wheels over a new entrance.

 

[sharonh]

I had a problem a while ago with wasps trying to get into the nuc. I made an entrance curtain out of clear hard film, with only one side open for the bees to get in, to get to a one bee entrance. Has worked very well. I since bought a wasp bane trap to help. Colony building really well & very busy drawing In pollen. My hived colony are well able to defend with a lot of bees in & out. The wasps were a right pain this year, several colonies wiped out by them. I did not want to lose any of my bees to wasps so tried to be one step ahead .