Who's been chewing my house?

[Drinkstone]

Must be a flying deer then! I hope there isn't a herd and they go on a cleansing flight. Anyway Hivemaker how do you know I didn't have a bath for a few days....lol

 

[jonathan cowley]

I think its possibly a Green Woodpecker,they hammer with their bills on the hive entrance then eat the bees as they come running out to see what all the noise is.

 

[Luminos]

Keith and Cazza you have spotted the possible! I watched a crow fly in there early this morning, the other point is there are absolutely no tracks from my hastily erected fence to the hive the track must have come from an airborne source. Question is was this Ed Miliband or a badger or even a muntjack with a helicopter? The other more serious question is could a crow cause that damage to the hives? CCTV is very complex and expensive by the way.

I don't think it could have been a muntjak with a helicopter - you'd have heard the helicopter. And muntjaks are well know for their airsickness.

 

[Amari]

'Farming Today' on Radio 4 (at least I think it was-Iwas half asleep) this morning mentioned imprints of an owl's wing in the snow 'as if fossilised'. In another context stoats featured.

 

[Drinkstone]

Well this morning's inspection shows one slide open and more slivers of wood in the snow! Looking around the chicken wire fence there is no sign whatsoever of entry. The tracks around the hive entrance are inconclusive having mixed with yesterdays tracks. Therefore I conclude airborne attack, as Luinos so rightly said I would have heard the helicopter if it was muntjack patrol! I think Amari has something with owls but put my money on a crow. Will I spend £500 on a camera system to cover my 3 acres much as I would like to no not today, we will now borrow a net from the veg garden and enclose the whole apiary..........what next? Amari suggested that as we run a B and B we could do a special apiary watch and he could have a job as guide and manager...any takers? Overnight in this weather probably not!

 

[Pete D]

Any magpies about ? they have the same wing ends as a crow 'fingered' I would call them and a flappy tail. They are also a pain in the arsss round here and into everything as they are more cockier than a crow and hang about in groups.
My money is still on rats, nothing has been back to mine. Maybe if it is an airbourne attacker the presence of the humane trap alongside the hive has detered them.
Bugger is though it has ruined the bottom front bar of a perfectly good year old cedar brood box. Repair job for spring I guess
Pete D

 

[Luminos]

Is it possible that it is a rat causing the damage, and a bird - owl perhaps - is after the rat? Thus, 2 sets of prints

 

[keith pierce]

Do you know a gamekeeper or a deerstalker. One of them might have a game trail camera that they could loan you.

 

[Drinkstone]

Any magpies about ? they have the same wing ends as a crow 'fingered' I would call them and a flappy tail. They are also a pain in the arsss round here and into everything as they are more cockier than a crow and hang about in groups.
My money is still on rats, nothing has been back to mine. Maybe if it is an airbourne attacker the presence of the humane trap alongside the hive has detered them.
Bugger is though it has ruined the bottom front bar of a perfectly good year old cedar brood box. Repair job for spring I guess
Pete D

The b....r has had three of my bottom bars and four sliders so can you make a few extra please?

 

[Drinkstone]

Do you know a gamekeeper or a deerstalker. One of them might have a game trail camera that they could loan you.

Not ruled out buying one yet Keith although if we net it today not a lot will be seen I guess.

 

[Drinkstone]

Any magpies about ? they have the same wing ends as a crow 'fingered' I would call them and a flappy tail. They are also a pain in the arsss round here and into everything as they are more cockier than a crow and hang about in groups.
My money is still on rats, nothing has been back to mine. Maybe if it is an airbourne attacker the presence of the humane trap alongside the hive has detered them.
Bugger is though it has ruined the bottom front bar of a perfectly good year old cedar brood box. Repair job for spring I guess
Pete D

Yes there are although we have a pair of crows and they are of course a substantial bird and I saw one fly in that area yesterday!
Not ruled out rat entirely although maybe I should as no ground tracks to hive since heavy snow and damage persists.

 

[Bee-Key-Pur]

I don't think it's a badger, a badger will take the whole side of a chicken house out in order to get in.
They are wing feather marks in the snow, could be an owl, we have lots about us, I still go for rats chewing your hives.
All the wooden floors in my chicken sheds are full of rat holes and if I cover the holes they will chew another one the next night. I now put fine mesh wire over the floors to keep them out.

 

[Swarm]

Last time I saw wing prints like that it was done by a pheasant.

 

[Drinkstone]

I don't think it's a badger, a badger will take the whole side of a chicken house out in order to get in.
They are wing feather marks in the snow, could be an owl, we have lots about us, I still go for rats chewing your hives.
All the wooden floors in my chicken sheds are full of rat holes and if I cover the holes they will chew another one the next night. I now put fine mesh wire over the floors to keep them out.

Hey Bee-Key-Pur (great name that is) with all due respect why do you not treat the source of the rats instead of just trying to keep them out I wonder? "The brown rat can breed throughout the year if conditions are suitable, with a female producing up to five litters a year. The gestation period is only 21 days, and litters can number up to 14, although seven is common. They reach sexual maturity in about five weeks" Not me that has the knowledge its Mr Google. Horrifying isn't it you could easily have 500 rats in no time at all. But apparently the mortality rate is 95% a year so maybe not so bad.

 

[Bee-Key-Pur]

I do treat for them, I put rat poison in the holes they make, through the wire I've put over the holes. This is the time of the year that I seem to have the best results, plus I switch brands of poison so they don't become immune to them.

 

[Drinkstone]

We will know what is doing the damage, trail camera arriving tomorrow!

 

[johnfly]

jackdaws

 

[Cazza]

We will know what is doing the damage, trail camera arriving tomorrow!

The tension and excitement is mounting.................

Cazza

 

[Drinkstone]

I've got it ! Many have recognised that the tracks are wings, rats still come very high on the suspect list (rightly so) but there are no tracks in the snow to the hives! So it just has to be rats in helicopters does it not?

 

[beeno]

I've got it ! Many have recognised that the tracks are wings, rats still come very high on the suspect list (rightly so) but there are no tracks in the snow to the hives! So it just has to be rats in helicopters does it not?

Hi Drinkstone,
I always assumed it was a hoax. If it is true it must be a feathered friend. Can't wait to find out which way it is going to go!