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Thread: Mouseguards

  1. #11
    Senior Member fatshark's Avatar
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    Hi DR ... Graham White of Edinburgh Beekeepers has published details of these types of floor. See also this page of a commercial one by Alan Wadsworth. I see that these cost £32 ... I reckon mine cost about £3-4 plus a sheet of wire mesh (and I'm hoping to stock up on the latter from the cheapo offerings at the NHS).

    I make mine slightly differently and have just written a brief article for our BKA on them. Once they've knocked together a PDF I'll be happy to send you the link. Better still ... here's a picture of one I built this w/e for a nuc. There is an entrance block in place (the unstained wood) ... Jon would be proud, the landing board is Correx

    Figure 4.jpg

    The only problem I've ever had was when an overwintering double brood managed to pack the entrance slot with corpses during a prolonged period of very hard weather. I now nip round once a month or so with a specially constructed high-tech tool to clear the slot (a bent coathanger).

  2. #12

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    Thanks Fatshark they look good
    I hadn't seen them before - smart idea

  3. #13
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    Overly complex possibly? So long as you have an 8mm entrance you are mouse proof. The only hive I have had an issue with was a Paynes poly hive which I tested last winter and of course got a mouse in. Why on earth manufacturers engineer IN problems beats me.

    PH

  4. #14
    Senior Member Mellifera Crofter's Avatar
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    One advantage of that kind of floor, I think, is that it's a bit more windproof.
    Kitta

  5. #15
    Senior Member fatshark's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Poly Hive View Post
    Overly complex possibly?
    PH
    Not really PH ... all OMF floors consist of a square frame with a bit of mesh nailed on top. This floor requires one extra crosspiece and the landing board tacked on underneath. Simples. I reckon they can be made from scratch - other than the painting - in an hour or less.

    Kitta might be correct about the windproofness, but I suspect the benefit is minor assuming the floor is mesh. Robbing and wasps are definitely less of a problem though, possibly because they are easier for the guards to defend.

    Vita have a floor designed to trap Asian hornets in trials (I think it's featured in BKQ) ... this design lends itself very well to similar modifications should (when) they arrive.

  6. #16
    Senior Member Mellifera Crofter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fatshark View Post
    ... Kitta might be correct about the windproofness, but I suspect the benefit is minor assuming the floor is mesh. ...
    About 50mph wind outside (gusts - but I think it is just one long constant 'gust'). I keep varroa trays in. All my hives are polys for winter, so I'm not actually using that particular floor just now. I have a few kinds of poly hives (still looking for the right one). The one with a floor nearest to the one you've described, Fatshark, is a hive from Beehive Supplies. The downside is that the varroa trays can blow out quite easily. I've just run around in the wind and rain trying to secure them. It's wild up here on my hill.
    Kitta

  7. #17

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    Mouseguards
    Yes it's almost that time again
    Pelting down rain horrible day but not too cold
    The bees were out and about this morning and I thought that was unusual for the time of year
    Reading this thread though it appears it was the same in 2011

  8. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jon View Post
    A mouse got into an apidea in November and chewed the comb to pieces.
    It was so mild here this winter that the bees barely clustered so I reckon any mouse would have had a hard time.
    Opened a poly nuc yesterday - dead mouse with bee corpses in its fur - no damage to the frames - occupants doing well. Well done the girls! and no talk about mice-resistant bees pleas
    Alan.

  9. #19
    Senior Member fatshark's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mellifera Crofter View Post
    The one with a floor nearest to the one you've described, Fatshark, is a hive from Beehive Supplies. The downside is that the varroa trays can blow out quite easily. I've just run around in the wind and rain trying to secure them. It's wild up here on my hill.
    Kitta
    And for those wanting cedar there's also this one.

    I use simple Correx sheets for Varroa trays and they can get dislodged, even in the zephyr-like breezes we get here in Fife. To solve this you can add a hanging flappy handle of duck tape (just stuck to either side of the board with a 2-3" bit folded over and stuck to itself) and pin it to the outside of the hive at the back.

  10. #20
    Senior Member Greengage's Avatar
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    Thanks for the link another project.

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