Subject: Re: Need help ending mouse invasions?

From: [email-masked] (Phil Veldhuis)
Date: 7 Oct 1994 06:26:33 GMT

Mice are a perenial problem with wintered bees.  Try any of the following:

1.  Entrance guards with nails driven in to form a portcullis that bees
can walk through but mice cannot.

2.  Keep your hives strong, the mice can only move in on a weak hive that
has moved up off the bottom combs, or at least the bottom half of the
bottom comb.

3.  Tip your hive from back to front so dead bees can be cleaned out
easier, this is partly what they are after.

4.  Keep your bottomboards clean.

As to insulating hives:

1.  Yes, we in canada have to insulate hives in order to have them
survive.  

2.  THe function of the insulation seems to be to moderate sudden drops in
temperature, rather than keeping the hive warm.  Over insulating seems to
keep the hive from benefiting from warm days.  Keep the wrap black to
absorb solar radiation.

3.  I assume you mean 20 degrees farenheit?  
If you meant -20 F, then that is worth insulating for, I guess.
If you mean +20 F, then bask in the warmth of a spring day...

I wouldn't worry too much unless the temp drops suddenly. 
Bees up here routinely survive a month w/o the daytime high geting above
-25 C, and the nightly lows being in the range where Celcius and Farenheit
meet.  (-40)

Of course, the longer the cold snap, the higher the mortality rate, and
lots of beekeepers (myself included) perfer to put the hives in a building
where temp is controled at about +5 C.

Phil
-- 
------------oooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo-------------
Phil Veldhuis           |  "if something is not worth doing, 
Winnipeg. MB, Canada    |  it is not worth doing right"
[email-masked] |                     Dave Barry (1985)

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From: [email-masked]
Date: 4 Oct 94 14:12:21 MDT

Howdy,

I have a question about overwintering hives.  

We have 15 hives that are located in a pasture on a farm here in northern Utah. 
Every spring at least one of the hives has a mouse nest in the bottom brood
box.  Earlier this year in June I had mice or voles repeatedly invade one weak
hive.  

My question is this:  is there any way to stop the mice from moving
into my hives short of moving them in from the fields or putting pesticide near
the hives (we have a lot of overwintering raptors and other predators)?

Also, for a period of three or so weeks during the winter it reaches 20 degrees
below zero F.  Has anyone ever insulated their hives or heard anything like
that?   Would it help if we did?

Thanks,

Todd Seamons

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From: [email-masked] (Norman R. Paterson)
Date: 11 Oct 1994 10:51:31 GMT

>box.  Earlier this year in June I had mice or voles repeatedly invade one weak

Not a reply, but a related query:

How come the bees don't drive the mice off?  Surely a dozen stings would be
enough to endanger a mouse's life.  I've been puzzled by this for a time (but
not troubled by mice).

...

>that?   Would it help if we did?

I keep my hives (up to 4) in my garage - a large wooden shed.  They sit on a
bench and butt up against a kind of tunnel which leads to a hole in the garage
wall.  Ideally there are no bees inside the garage.  It is very handy for
keeping my tools and things to hand.  Also, they are much warmer in winter than
they would be outside (not that it gets that cold here).  The point is, the bees
seem quite happy with the arrangement, and once even swarmed into an empty hive
I had arranged in the garage for just that purpose.

-Norman

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From: [email-masked] (wgathey)
Date: 11 Oct 1994 12:12:08 GMT

>that?   Would it help if we did?

Try laying  two 4X4s parallel and spaced about 1 foot apart up on top of  buckets or
something that mice cannot climb.  It also has to be high enough that mice cannot 
jump too.  I also use concrete blocks with a sheet of metal between the layers to
deter mice and ants.  I'm sure there are many combinations pipes, etc.  to set the 
4X4s on.
Also try closing down the entrance to the small hole should help or cover the 
entrance with small mesh wire that the bees can go through but a mouse could not.

As for insulating the hives in the winter, temperature is not a problem in Florida.
I hope someone in frigid climates can help you with that question.

Hope this helps,

Bill

===============================================================================

 Bill Athey - AA4WE                       Internet: [email-masked]
 Honeywell Inc.                           Packet:   [email-masked]
 Space Systems Division                   Phone:    (813) 539-2913
 13350 U. S. Highway 19 North, MS 887-3   FAX:      (813) 539-3859
 Clearwater, Florida 34624-7290

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From: [email-masked] (John E. Taylor III)
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 1994 12:39:10 -0400

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Norman

> enough to endanger a mouse's life.  I've been puzzled by this for a time (but

I recall an account (here on the Internet?  From a local beekeeper?  In a
journal?  Don't recall the source) of a beekeeper noticing three little
mouse tails sticking out from under the hive entrance, quite still, and no
disturbance in the hive.  He banged on the side of the hive to wake things
up, and three mice came blasting out of the hive with bees all over them!
Apparently mice can sneak in if they're cool about it, and hang out taking
advantage of the warmth and food for the winter.  They only get attacked if
the bees get upset and go looking for something to hassle.

>
> >Also, for a period of three or so weeks during the winter it reaches 20
> >degrees below zero F.  Has anyone ever insulated their hives or heard
> >anything like that?   Would it help if we did?
>
> I keep my hives (up to 4) in my garage - a large wooden shed.  They sit
> on a bench and butt up against a kind of tunnel which leads to a hole in
> the garage wall.  Ideally there are no bees inside the garage.

I do recall that this was published in one of the bee journals.  Someone
ran a comparative study of hives in the northern part of the US, some
wrapped with insulation and covered with a wrap of roofing paper, and the
others uninsulated.  As I recall, he discovered little difference in
survival rate for the two groups.  The sample was, however, small, so
others might profit from repeating it.

--
John Taylor    (W3ZID)     |  "The opinions expressed are those of the
[email-masked] |   writer and not of Rohm and Haas Company."

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From: [email-masked] (Allen Dick 546-2588)
Date: Sat, 15 Oct 1994 20:32:44 GMT

: > >Also, for a period of three or so weeks during the winter it reaches 20
: > >degrees below zero F.  Has anyone ever insulated their hives or heard
: > >anything like that?   Would it help if we did?
: >
: > I keep my hives (up to 4) in my garage - a large wooden shed.  They sit
: > on a bench and butt up against a kind of tunnel which leads to a hole in
: > the garage wall.  Ideally there are no bees inside the garage.

Up here in the Great White North, most of us wrap our bees.  Sometimes we
don't have to, but we never know until after if it was necessary.  Some
winters are mild and things are just right and the wrapping isn't
necessary. 

Hives that have to endure longish periods of dearth accompanied by cold 
weather can benefit from insulation.

When I kept two queen colonies, I didn't wrap and the hives came through 
fairly well, but when I switched to single queens, I had losses up to 
100% in some yards.

Average strength and weaker colonies in particular will survive with much 
greater certainty if wrapped.  The insulation on the top is the most 
important.  We use a one inch kodel blanket sewn from tarp material 
wrapped around the sides of four hives crowded together.  A pillow of 
kodel scraps is place on top and a piece of plywood is tied on to 
complete the package.  In the southern areas, just a tarpaper or black 
plastic wrap with a little insulation on the lid helps protect the equipment 
and bees from weather.

Controlled ventillation is important too.  Bees generate a lot of water
vapour and C02, consuming honey.  We use an upper entrance of a 1 inch
auger hole or 3/8 by 1 1/2 inch slit in the inner cover as a breathing
hole. 

Survival using this method is consistently about 85 - 95%, which is good,
considering the hives are not fall checked for queens etc, and the winter
period is from November through the end of March, with temperatures down
to minus 40 for days on end. A person is lucky to average that survival
rate over a summer with no hive checks and maintenance work. 

Hope this helps - If not ask again.
-- 
W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper                 ARS  VE6CFK
Rural Route One, Swalwell,  Alberta  Canada  T0M 1Y0
Phone/Fax: 403 546 2588      Email: [email-masked]