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Author Topic: SO, About that mouse !!!  (Read 10959 times)

Offline rayb

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SO, About that mouse !!!
« on: February 22, 2007, 11:05:32 am »
My previous post asked if letting mice stay until warmer weather would be ok. I'm not sure I got an answer other than I should have put mouse excluders on. I will next time!

I cleaned the debris tray yesterday and , today there are about a dozen 1/8 inch droppings. Someone is here.

So, can the intruders stay till warmer weather or should they be evicted sooner?

Thanks, Ray

Offline Jerrymac

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2007, 12:08:13 pm »
Well they do chew up the comb and they are carnivorous and will eat the bees if they get hungry enough.
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Offline Understudy

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2007, 12:30:32 pm »
This question is going to seem wrong on so many levels. However my intent is in order to help you get an answer to your question.

Could take a picture of the excrement and post it?

I can see the mods cringing now.

Sincerely,
Brendhan
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Offline KONASDAD

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #3 on: February 22, 2007, 12:42:16 pm »
If you think a mouse is about, just put a mouse trap w/in inches outside of where you suspect the mouse gets in and out of hive. The mouse gets caught outside hive, end of problem. That way the hive is not disturbed at all.
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Offline Kathyp

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #4 on: February 22, 2007, 12:51:33 pm »
Quote
This question is going to seem wrong on so many levels

scat id is an old, respected, and almost lost skill :-) 

i like the mouse trap idea. 
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Offline Belzabeya

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #5 on: February 22, 2007, 02:25:49 pm »
I can't kill anything, so I would probably throw some sunflower seeds in a nearby area to make sure the mice/mouse have food and they don't eat anything in your hive. I am new at the beekeeping business so I don't know if there are health issues related to having them in your hive.  If it is very cold in your area, I would try to leave some sort of box outside (wooden or cardboard) with pine straws, newspaper or dry leaves it in and hope that they/it will "relocate".  In the spring, you can remove all that and take precautions to keep them out of your hive next year, as you said you would do.

Offline Jerrymac

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #6 on: February 22, 2007, 02:35:31 pm »
I can't kill anything, so I would probably throw some sunflower seeds in a nearby area to make sure the mice/mouse have food and they don't eat anything in your hive.

We are talking about mice here. Nasty disease ridden varmints that destroy everything including human health. Feeding them will only increase their population and cause more mice trying to  infest your hives and house and vehicles and......
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Offline Mici

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #7 on: February 22, 2007, 02:46:29 pm »
A rat killem my cat :'( well...not with force but it was responsible for the death of my fearsome predator!!! i guess it was poisouned, that's why my kitty died!. thankfully the white one-the older one-the more experienced one knows not to eat these critters!!.

Offline Belzabeya

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #8 on: February 22, 2007, 02:58:20 pm »
Maybe the mouse your cat ate was full of poison he ate put down by someone looking to get rid of them.  Sorry about your cat. 

As far as having them in your yard and being hazardous to your health, I agree you don't want being stuck with any infestation (mouse, ants, snakes, crickets...).  I was offering a way to deal with a mouse or two, it does not sound like he has an infestation. My experience is that mice will look to anchor down when it is cold, but will move on early spring.  You can remove what attracts them anytime and have them go away.  No food, no fun. 

Offline Robo

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2007, 02:59:25 pm »
You need to get it out.  As Jerry stated, a mouse will eat bees, chew the comb all up and distrupt the cluster to the point that they will get split up or away from stores and will die.   Right now the mouse is setting pretty in there with a dry place and plenty of food.  It will not leave at this point, so any attempt to trap it on the outside is useless.

I would suggest trying to get it from the bottom and not the disturb the bees if possible.   If you can lift the hive (with help if needed) off the bottom board and set it on some blocks, chances are you can scare the mouse out from the bottom.  This way you don't have to tear the hive apart and disturb the bees.  This method worked for me late last Fall before I put the reducers in.
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Offline Jerrymac

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #10 on: February 22, 2007, 03:20:15 pm »
  If you can lift the hive (with help if needed) off the bottom board and set it on some blocks, chances are you can scare the mouse out from the bottom.  This way you don't have to tear the hive apart and disturb the bees.  This method worked for me late last Fall before I put the reducers in.

I picked up a hive body from the bottom board and sat it in the back of my pickup. Drove about a hundred yards to the house and then started taking out the frames. I had about half of them out when all of a sudden this mouse goes running out. I didn't know it was in there.

Belzabeya,

I don't know what kind of mice you got around there. I have five acres of land with probably two mice to every nine square feet. The cats stay fat around here and there is no decline in the mouse population. They will go inside of anything to get away from cold weather. They have built nest in my vehicle air cleaners from material they dug out of the insulation on the hood and firewalls. They live off of bugs, seeds, and anything that might hold some nutritional value. Probably even rabbit poop. Yep we got those critters around here also. Mice just don't go away and it is hard to starve them out. They get into your house and eat your food if they have to.
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Offline Understudy

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #11 on: February 22, 2007, 03:53:59 pm »
I don't have mice I am very fortunate in that aspect. I have Norwigean Rats (huge buggers), possums, racoons, armadillos, cuban night anoles (big,ugly, and mean), black racers, glass snakes and Buffo toads. I think I am very fortunate in that aspect that most of them have not caused me any problems. The buffo toads wait at the bottom of the hive any bee that is near dead or dead and falls below is gone. The little brown lizards also try to run in the hive. They usually get stung and wait on the side or bottom of the box, lone bees have a fair chance, however lizards are fast. The birds I would catch on occasion sitting on top of the hive. Waiting for food like it was a drive through buffet. One of birds got attack by a something and now the birds wait in the tree. I have spiders that make webs along the flight path. This is the only time I can ever say I have seen fat spiders. I don't the spiders, but I mind that they don't pay any rent and build the webs so big that I can't walk into my yard with running into one.

There are live mouse traps, peanut butter is great bait. Capture live mouse drive several miles away and release in yard of the politician you like least. The politician and the mouse will become fast friends.

And if you can't post the picture message me with a url and I will have someone take a look at it.

Sincerely,
Brendhan
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Offline Drone

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #12 on: February 22, 2007, 03:56:41 pm »

[/quote]

We are talking about mice here. Nasty disease ridden varmints that destroy everything including human health. Feeding them will only increase their population and cause more mice trying to  infest your hives and house and vehicles and......
[/quote]

And what does the general TV watching, Walmart shopping, fast food eating public have to say about bees??

Uh huh. :roll:

I think mice are cute, but I don't want them eating my bees!

-John

Offline Belzabeya

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #13 on: February 22, 2007, 04:02:27 pm »
Wow, sounds like you guys have a nice properties surrounded by nature.  Actually, it sounds like a wild jungle.  I got it easy here in North Carolina.  Do we know where Rayb is from and how many mice he is dealing with? (and how big!!!!???)  I guess you are all recommending to "kick them out" no matter what or else it will potentially kill the hive.  

Offline thegolfpsycho

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #14 on: February 22, 2007, 04:27:57 pm »
We've had cases of Hantavirus in Utah, which is carried and transmitted through mice feces.  Not too many people that get it survive it, although that may be because only the very very ill seek medical attention.  So besides the chewing up, eating bees, urinating and stinking up the equipment, I consider them a direct hazard to my health.  Get them out of your equipment, and out of your house!  It would be a sad state of affairs to be bedridden, deathly ill, but taking comfort in the fact that at least the mouse is still alive.

Offline rayb

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #15 on: February 22, 2007, 05:19:46 pm »
Thanks everyone....Those rats, er mice, will go. Will let you know how easy and how I got them out.

Thanks, Ray

Offline Robo

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #16 on: February 22, 2007, 05:28:34 pm »
I guess you are all recommending to "kick them out" no matter what or else it will potentially kill the hive. 

I've never found a "live" hive in the Spring with a mouse.  Any mouse or mouse remains have always been in dead-outs.

In fact 2 years ago I looked at a feral colony in a church that the neighbor said had been there for over 12 years (as long as they lived there) and threw multiple swarms each year.  Since it was late in the Fall  and this seemed like a prolific feral colony and I didn't want to risk removing them and getting them thru the winter.  So I decided to wait until Spring to remove them.  When I went back in the Spring, a mouse had gotten in the wall and the bees where dead.   Very disappointing.
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Offline gottabee

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #17 on: February 22, 2007, 09:30:06 pm »
Kill Mickey. The girls are counting on you.

Offline Michael Bush

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #18 on: February 23, 2007, 12:00:01 am »
>Any mouse or mouse remains have always been in dead-outs.

Usually the mouse moves into living hives for the heat.  They become dead-outs because of the mice.
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Offline Jeff L

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Re: SO, About that mouse !!!
« Reply #19 on: February 23, 2007, 12:27:48 am »
I agree with Konasdad and Kathy. Just put in a mousetrap, bait it with peanut butter, or use D-Con. Problem solved. If you see green mouse droppings after using D-Con, it worked. Then remove the D-Con. Better to get it now before the weather warms, as they are strong breeders. You'll have many meeces if you don't. (Tom and Jerry)

Not to stick up for mice, but they are a strong food source for many critters. Owls, Raptors, Skunks, Possums, Coyotes, Egrets, Herons, heck everything. Fish too. I wouldn't eat one, but everything else does.

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