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Of Mice and Bees

Posted on November 18, 2015November 17, 2015

I got sidetracked… I meant to clean out my wood shed… there was garbage in there that needed hauled and burned… and I had planned to haul some wood for my stove in there for the winter.  But, hey, I had to haul the garbage away first, so I did that.  Since the burn pit is down by the junk pile and I was right there, I decided to peek into my Bee Barn.

Now I knew I had lost that one hive, and I hoped it wasn’t overrun with mice even though I’d closed it up.  I checked.  Holy cow, the little turds had still gotten in and chewed up chunks of the rigid insulation I’d used in the roof.  GRRRRRRR.

miceWell, I was definitely hauling it home to seal it up tighter!!!

Then I checked my little Golden Mean hive.  It has a viewing window, so I opened it up, knowing they were doing well a few weeks ago.  Well, son of a gun.  A mouse nest was in there.  Great.

I lifted the lid on my big hive.  I couldn’t hear any hum!!!!  It was cool, but ahhhhhhh!  I just KNEW it was gonna be dead too.  I cracked open the follower board and pulled out bars.  After moving 5 or 6, I heard them… YAY!  No sign of mice as far as I could see… and HUMMING!  I closed it up tight.

I loaded my two other hives in my little truck, planning to work on them this winter.  I opened the little one by my garage… what a mess!  The mouse nest was HUGE.

nestIt went through multiple combs.  GROSS.

I cleaned it out and cracked apart more top bars.  What?  There it was… a small hum!  With all this mess, I still had some bees alive!  I looked through the viewing window and a mouse was looking out at me!!!!  YUKYUKYUK!  There’s some honey and some bees… I’m gonna give them a chance.  I cleaned out the nest and set two traps inside.

I don’t want to open it up fully… temps weren’t quite warm enough… but if it warms up again, I’ll crack them all open and MAKE SURE there’s no mice in there.  I may have to feed the bees through the winter, but I’ll try to keep them happy!

I HATE MICE.

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5 thoughts on “Of Mice and Bees”

  1. Ginger says:
    November 19, 2015 at 6:28 AM

    dryer sheet will keep mice out. Use Downy. Seems to work best. Mice do not like the smell. I have them in my ’67 pick-up so they won’t chew the wiring.

    Reply
  2. thecrazysheeplady says:
    November 19, 2015 at 4:16 AM

    I am right there with you on mice in hives! Well, mice in general too ;-). Do you use entrance reducers out there?

    Reply
    1. Carol says:
      November 19, 2015 at 11:02 PM

      Well, it’s reduced even more now…. 😉

      Reply
  3. Susan Lemmons says:
    November 19, 2015 at 2:03 AM

    Sounds like the kitty showed up just where he was needed!

    Reply
  4. Joanne says:
    November 18, 2015 at 7:02 AM

    Hey!!! You are certainly having a ‘fun’????? time with kitties and mice. Sorry about some of the bees but hope you get the mice/beehive moved to just a beehive. Love your blogs. Never boring. Always interesting. Often a smile on my face as I read them. Thanks Carol.

    Reply

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Carol, Wyoming rancher

Since 2008, I’ve kept this photographic journal of life on our working Wyoming ranch.  I share ranch work, my family, crafts and DIY, my English Shepherds, Bravo and Indy, and a love for this land.  Enjoy this red dirt country!

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