Juandefuca wrote:

> ... The mice building nests in the
> hiveboxes sure make a mess but I never found them eating honey



A pair of mice destroyed my TBH last year. During the winter months they
built a nest at the empty end of the TBH away from the comb (and bees).
In spite of my repeated removal of the nest, they kept returning. Since
I didn't see any signs of damage I finally gave up. In late winter/early
spring when the queen resumed laying, the mice attacked the comb ripping
great gashes in it, presumably to get at the pupa. The bees departed.

One more observation. Styrofoam is not a good material for an internal
baffle to isolate the empty portion of a TBH during the winter. It makes
fantastic nesting material for the mice.

Live & learn.


AL