Is a Mouse Guard really necessary?

I have been keeping bees for a good few years now with up to 10 hives in my apiary. To this date, I have never used a mouse guard. It was only earlier this year that I took a visitor to see one of my hives and to my horror, there was a pile of dead bees on the porch. This was a thriving colony of bees in my one and only Langstroth hive. Some weeks later I went to open the cedar hive which also had received substantial damage to the opening. I must admit to not having an entrance block fitted either. Inside I found a mouse nest occupying an area around 125cm diameter in the middle of several frames. An awful loss!

The damage to the hive was caused by rats that had tried to gain access also. The invasion was both by rats and mice.

My advice is to close down the entrance for the winter and use a mouse guard on every hive during this time. Mouse guards are relatively inexpensive and some allow the entrance to be closed whilst still providing ventilation if the hive is being moved. It makes sense to protect your colonies bearing in mind the current value of a bee colony.

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