Squirrels ?

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stuart

New Bee
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Jan 1, 2010
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Nottinghamshire uk
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6
just been to my apiary(only 2 hives), one appears to have been chewed all across the entance with no signs of life in either hive
 
Doesn't sound good on the face of it. But have to ask what you mean by no signs of life....none flying (expected in this weather),or loads of dead on the floor (should be a few, not loads), or looked for cluster with torch upwards through floor and saw nothing, or opened up hive and x bees left...

...impossible to guess what's happened until you tell us that. Also how many stores/mite counts and treatments/queens last seen/brood strength going into winter...
 
just been to my apiary(only 2 hives), one appears to have been chewed all across the entance with no signs of life in either hive

So you have two dead outs then.
 
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Squirrels!? I think you might mean woodpeckers or mice. In all the bee books I've come across and internet beekeeping sites, I have never heard of squirrels.
 
Squirrels!? I think you might mean woodpeckers or mice. In all the bee books I've come across and internet beekeeping sites, I have never heard of squirrels.

Squirrels can be very damaging...ditto rabbits. They come to the fore during very cold, often snowy, periods, and attack the edges of the boxes.

The list of pests is actually longer than you might think

Badgers
Squirrels
Rabbits
Rats
Mice
Shrews
Green Woodpeckers
Great Tits
 
Squirrels can be very damaging...ditto rabbits. They come to the fore during very cold, often snowy, periods, and attack the edges of the boxes.

The list of pests is actually longer than you might think

Badgers
Squirrels
Rabbits
Rats
Mice
Shrews
Green Woodpeckers
Great Tits

Tits?:)
 
saw some serious damage to Swienty poly hives by tits this year
 
saw some serious damage to Swienty poly hives by tits this year

Funnily enough the worst I have seen recently is some cedar hives, where the Great tits have been pecking away at the boxes big style, causing the bees to come out, which they then eat.
 
To my mind this is rats!

I have a friend with the problem. He has solved it by using the expanded metal mesh right angle strips that they use to make the corners straight when they plaster walls.

The mesh fits over the entrance and lets the bees in and keeps the mice out - while the reinforced corner resists the bigger rodents gnawing.

And you can get it cheap - or take up skip diving, which seems to be the normal beek solution.

Simples!
 
There is a very large squirrel that lives in the trees above the hives. I have took photos of the damage done. Also a brood box I have sited ready for new bees this year has been chewed
I understand squirrels are allergic to lead and have tried to no avail, to introduce the 2 together

In January I built a shed between the 2 hives I have occupied. On the warmer days bees appeared occasionally prob on toilet duty. Today 23/2/12 nice a warm opened both of the hives with no life in either. Took photos of a cluster of bees that appear to be coated in white dust
 
There is a very large squirrel that lives in the trees above the hives. I have took photos of the damage done. Also a brood box I have sited ready for new bees this year has been chewed
I understand squirrels are allergic to lead and have tried to no avail, to introduce the 2 together

In January I built a shed between the 2 hives I have occupied. On the warmer days bees appeared occasionally prob on toilet duty. Today 23/2/12 nice a warm opened both of the hives with no life in either. Took photos of a cluster of bees that appear to be coated in white dust

I have quite a few squirrels that frequent the area around my hives but have never had a problem with them chewing the hives. Although a few now grace club members' fly tying boxes! :D
 

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