Slugs and Beehives

[Luminos]

Amongst other things, some slugs eat faeces.
A good enough reason to keep them out of your hives, I reckon

 

[beeno]

Amongst other things, some slugs eat faeces.
A good enough reason to keep them out of your hives, I reckon

So, do bees apparently!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Amongst other things, some slugs eat faeces.
A good enough reason to keep them out of your hives, I reckon

Yes I often find them on our dogs' poo if I've missed a bit the day before.
Yuck!!!!
Might explain why any I throw into the chicken enclosure are always ignored

 

[pargyle]

Yes I often find them on our dogs' poo if I've missed a bit the day before.
Yuck!!!!
Might explain why any I throw into the chicken enclosure are always ignored

Put them into a plastic bucket with a lid on it (and some small holes drilled in the lid for ventilation) the more the merrier. Put about an inch or so of water in the bottom of the bucket and a raft of leaves ... the idea is not to drown them but to keep them alive but very moist. This is the perfect breeding ground for nematodes - you can help it along by stirring in a teaspoon or so of 'bought in' nematodes (available on ebat and other internet sites). Stir the slugs up in the bucket each day and push any that have crawled up the side back down.

They will, in about a week, have mostly died as a result of the nematodes and bacteria. Drain the liquid out of the bucket, dilute it with tap water 10 or 20 to 1 seems to work. Water it onto the ground around your favourite plants or your apiary ... works a treat. More environmentally sound than chemical slug killers and a little less messy and brutal than cutting the little beggars in half or squashing them.

You can consolidate your crop of slugs by laying a piece of cardboard on the ground overnight ... or better still a hollowed out grapefruit or orange half - they love the pith.

 

[Erichalfbee]

A plan for Spring

 

[MartinJG]

Slugs love damp!
Often found on the solid floor, not found them on frames (yet); I don't recall finding them on hives with OMF (yet).
Your slug getting through the mouse guard, shows how they can contract their bodies through small spaces, yet when you see them on the inside you winder how they got there?
A quick flick with the hive tool and out they go.

 

[alfazer]

I got small ones crawling into hives, but I wrapped copper wire around the legs of the hive stand and it seems to have stopped them. I also use a few laps of it on the ground around hosta plants and it stops them getting munched too.