I have a problem with slugs getting into my hive(s). I am surprised they
get past the bees and was wondering if anyone knows

a) how they get in?
B) is there anything i should use or more importantly not use as i don't
want to damage the bees health.

There is only a quiet bees newsgroup and was wondering if there are any
beekeepers in his ng.

I am a beginner with bees and my friend has never experienced slugs in 25
years.

I am in Glasgow in the Central Scottish belt if that is relevant, - A
'temperate' climate. Hives are located beside a rhubarb patch.

Many thanks

Ed in Glasgow

On 8 Jul, 20:10, "Edward O' Brien" wrote:
I have a problem with slugs getting into my hive(s). I am surprised they
get past the bees and was wondering if anyone knows
a) how they get in?
B) is there anything i should use or more importantly not use as i don't
want to damage the bees health.
There is only a quiet bees newsgroup and was wondering if there are any
beekeepers in his ng.
I am a beginner with bees and my friend has never experienced slugs in 25
years.
I am in Glasgow in the Central Scottish belt if that is relevant, - A
'temperate' climate. Hives are located beside a rhubarb patch.

Hi Ed. I don't want to get rid of you - but there's forums, see below,
where the subject is bees. With all this rain, I've started to find
slugs in my kitchen!! Even the cats are not sure ... But I don't know
about slugs and bees. See if this helps.

http://www.bbka.org.uk/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=4
http://www.derbyshire-bka.org.uk/forum/

"Edward O' Brien" wrote in message
news
I have a problem with slugs getting into my hive(s). I am surprised they
get past the bees and was wondering if anyone knows

a) how they get in?

they crawl in, silently and creating no disturbance.

B) is there anything i should use or more importantly not use as i don't
want to damage the bees health.

I never bothered doing anything about it. I picked them out and discarded
them if I found them. As far as I was concerned they weren't a problem in
hives.

There is only a quiet bees newsgroup and was wondering if there are any
beekeepers in his ng.

I kept bees in Yorkshire for 25 years, I gave up about three or four years
ago because of arthritis in my hands, it's not safe for me or the bees to
hold a frame. I've seen too many old beekeepers carry on no matter how
crippled and the bees suffered, I wasn't going to let that happen to my
bees.

I am a beginner with bees and my friend has never experienced slugs in 25
years.

Either he's lucky or he hasn't been observant enough. I've seen almost
everything which can get into an entrance inside a hive.

I am in Glasgow in the Central Scottish belt if that is relevant, - A
'temperate' climate. Hives are located beside a rhubarb patch.

If you want to prevent slugs a mouseguard might be useful but not 100%
effective because some slugs are smaller than the holes.

I don't think slugs do much damage in a hive. Mice do far more damage.

Talk to Eric McArthur about it, he'll have an opinion. And tell him I told
you to :-)

Mary

"La Puce" wrote in message
ps.com...
On 8 Jul, 20:10, "Edward O' Brien" wrote:
I have a problem with slugs getting into my hive(s). I am surprised they
get past the bees and was wondering if anyone knows
a) how they get in?
B) is there anything i should use or more importantly not use as i don't
want to damage the bees health.
There is only a quiet bees newsgroup and was wondering if there are any
beekeepers in his ng.
I am a beginner with bees and my friend has never experienced slugs in 25
years.
I am in Glasgow in the Central Scottish belt if that is relevant, - A
'temperate' climate. Hives are located beside a rhubarb patch.

Hi Ed. I don't want to get rid of you - but there's forums, see below,
where the subject is bees. With all this rain, I've started to find
slugs in my kitchen!! Even the cats are not sure ... But I don't know
about slugs and bees. See if this helps.

Helene, bees and gardens are inextricably linked. The beekeeping forums
aren't all that good in my experience. BBKA doesn't cover Scotland and
Derbyshire is far too far south for Glasgow beekeeping.

Mary

"Mary Fisher" wrote after
"Edward O' Brien" wrote ...
I have a problem with slugs getting into my hive(s). I am surprised they
get past the bees and was wondering if anyone knows

a) how they get in?

they crawl in, silently and creating no disturbance.

B) is there anything i should use or more importantly not use as i don't
want to damage the bees health.

I never bothered doing anything about it. I picked them out and discarded
them if I found them. As far as I was concerned they weren't a problem in
hives.

There is only a quiet bees newsgroup and was wondering if there are any
beekeepers in his ng.

I kept bees in Yorkshire for 25 years, I gave up about three or four years
ago because of arthritis in my hands, it's not safe for me or the bees to
hold a frame. I've seen too many old beekeepers carry on no matter how
crippled and the bees suffered, I wasn't going to let that happen to my
bees.

I am a beginner with bees and my friend has never experienced slugs in 25
years.

Either he's lucky or he hasn't been observant enough. I've seen almost
everything which can get into an entrance inside a hive.

I am in Glasgow in the Central Scottish belt if that is relevant, - A
'temperate' climate. Hives are located beside a rhubarb patch.

If you want to prevent slugs a mouseguard might be useful but not 100%
effective because some slugs are smaller than the holes.

I don't think slugs do much damage in a hive. Mice do far more damage.

Talk to Eric McArthur about it, he'll have an opinion. And tell him I told
you to :-)

Not a Bee keeper but...
They sell them to put round your Hostas etc so why not a copper band around
all entrances to a hive, that would keep all slugs and snails out as they
won't cross copper. How it would effect the bees I have no idea but if it
was far enough away from their landing spot they shouldn't come in contact
with it.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

On 8 Jul, 21:00, "Mary Fisher" wrote:
Helene, bees and gardens are inextricably linked. The beekeeping forums
aren't all that good in my experience. BBKA doesn't cover Scotland and
Derbyshire is far too far south for Glasgow beekeeping.

I'm so glad you could help and reassure Ed. So sorry that you can't
keep bees anymore. You must miss it a lot. A friend of my grand dad
kept them and I loved when we visited him. But why do you think bee
keepers forums aren't good?! Surely they know what they are talking
about.

"La Puce" wrote in message
ups.com...
On 8 Jul, 21:00, "Mary Fisher" wrote:
Helene, bees and gardens are inextricably linked. The beekeeping forums
aren't all that good in my experience. BBKA doesn't cover Scotland and
Derbyshire is far too far south for Glasgow beekeeping.

I'm so glad you could help and reassure Ed. So sorry that you can't
keep bees anymore. You must miss it a lot. A friend of my grand dad
kept them and I loved when we visited him. But why do you think bee
keepers forums aren't good?! Surely they know what they are talking
about.

Some do ...

Mary

"Edward O' Brien" wrote in message
news
I have a problem with slugs getting into my hive(s). I am surprised
they
get past the bees and was wondering if anyone knows

a) how they get in?
B) is there anything i should use or more importantly not use as i
don't
want to damage the bees health.

Don't get too excited about it, they don't seem to do any harm - just
toss 'em out when you'r looking in your hives. They really are the
least of your worries.

It's a long time since I looked at any bee newsgroups so I don't know
what they're like now.
--
Rod

My real address is rodthegardeneratmyisp

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...


Not a Bee keeper but...
They sell them to put round your Hostas etc so why not a copper band
around all entrances to a hive, that would keep all slugs and snails out
as they won't cross copper. How it would effect the bees I have no idea
but if it was far enough away from their landing spot they shouldn't come
in contact with it.

Bob, a beehive is about 18" square, it's usually on some kind of stand to
raise it off the ground. Sometimes the stand will accommodate two or more
hives. The entrance is usually on the front face of the hive, at the bottom.

It would be impossible to stop slugs coming from underground, up the stand,
under the beehive floor and into the entrance, by using copper strip or
mesh. When copper is used for protecting plants it forms a fairly small
collar round the plant, that couldn't be done with a beehive.

Copper could be tacked round the entrance but it would be a real faff and
simply not worth the trouble or cutting and nailing four pieces - and to
every hive!

To the OP - there are far worse things than slugs in a hive. Quite apart
from mice, moth and wasps there are much smaller enemies - one day when you
have time scrape some of the debris from the floor and look at it under a
magnifying glass. You'll see that it's heaving with life. You'll probably
find things like millipedes on the crown board - they repulsed me when I
first saw them but they do no harm. A bird once got into one of my hives and
built a nest before my spring inspection. It's amazing how much life there
is in a hive. Then there are two legged enemies ... little boys seem to
think they'll prove their manhood by vandalising hives. There are also
thieves - who are other beekeepers.

Concentrate on keeping your hives dry - damp is the greatest enemy. Cut long
grass and weeds so that they don't impede the airflow through the entrance -
although there are some advantages in making the entrance easier to defend.

If you haven't already you MUST join your local association, you'll get
varying and opposing information but at least it will be local and there
will be people who have had the same experiences as you.

Don't worry about slugs.

Mary

In reply to Mary Fisher ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...


Not a Bee keeper but...
They sell them to put round your Hostas etc so why not a copper band
around all entrances to a hive, that would keep all slugs and snails
out as they won't cross copper. How it would effect the bees I have
no idea but if it was far enough away from their landing spot they
shouldn't come in contact with it.

Bob, a beehive is about 18" square, it's usually on some kind of
stand to raise it off the ground. Sometimes the stand will
accommodate two or more hives. The entrance is usually on the front
face of the hive, at the bottom.
It would be impossible to stop slugs coming from underground, up the
stand, under the beehive floor and into the entrance, by using copper
strip or mesh. When copper is used for protecting plants it forms a
fairly small collar round the plant, that couldn't be done with a
beehive.
Copper could be tacked round the entrance but it would be a real faff
and simply not worth the trouble or cutting and nailing four pieces -
and to every hive!

To the OP - there are far worse things than slugs in a hive. Quite
apart from mice, moth and wasps there are much smaller enemies - one
day when you have time scrape some of the debris from the floor and
look at it under a magnifying glass. You'll see that it's heaving
with life. You'll probably find things like millipedes on the crown
board - they repulsed me when I first saw them but they do no harm. A
bird once got into one of my hives and built a nest before my spring
inspection. It's amazing how much life there is in a hive. Then there
are two legged enemies ... little boys seem to think they'll prove
their manhood by vandalising hives. There are also thieves - who are
other beekeepers.
Concentrate on keeping your hives dry - damp is the greatest enemy.
Cut long grass and weeds so that they don't impede the airflow
through the entrance - although there are some advantages in making
the entrance easier to defend.
If you haven't already you MUST join your local association, you'll
get varying and opposing information but at least it will be local
and there will be people who have had the same experiences as you.

Don't worry about slugs.

But, if you do, they won't climb up vaseline. You could vaseline the hive
legs.

I have discovered that they also won't climb up plastic water bottles. I
made lupin rings at the weekend by cutting a (2 litre) water bottle into
rings, about 4" long, and placing them round the lupins.

There were LOADS of slugs on Saturday night, and not one lupin has been
touched. So far so good ...

On 9 Jul, 11:18, "Uncle Marvo"
wrote:
But, if you do, they won't climb up vaseline. You could vaseline the hive
legs.
I have discovered that they also won't climb up plastic water bottles. I
made lupin rings at the weekend by cutting a (2 litre) water bottle into
rings, about 4" long, and placing them round the lupins.
There were LOADS of slugs on Saturday night, and not one lupin has been
touched. So far so good ...

Hey, I do that too! But I serate the edges of the bottles to make them
sharp, pointy and nasty ... evil laugh

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...


Don't worry about slugs.

But, if you do, they won't climb up vaseline. You could vaseline the hive
legs.

It wouldn't stay on - I've tried it.

Mary

In reply to Mary Fisher ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...


Don't worry about slugs.

But, if you do, they won't climb up vaseline. You could vaseline the
hive legs.

It wouldn't stay on - I've tried it.

It stays on my pots, and wood. Last a few day, even in the rain.

Many, many thanks, to La Puce, thank you for putting me on to the other
newsgroups, i use the NG facility in Outlook Express, it offered only one
newsgroup, apparently in ?USA, sorry, i'm not that au fait with newsgroups.
Stunned at the response from all, i shall put my hives on a support and
maybe even try the copper option. Regular cleaning of the hives may help
also, as i said i am new to beekeeping too. Thank you all once again,
especially to Mary!

Edward in Glasgow
"La Puce" wrote in message
ps.com...
On 8 Jul, 20:10, "Edward O' Brien" wrote:
I have a problem with slugs getting into my hive(s). I am surprised they
get past the bees and was wondering if anyone knows
a) how they get in?
B) is there anything i should use or more importantly not use as i don't
want to damage the bees health.
There is only a quiet bees newsgroup and was wondering if there are any
beekeepers in his ng.
I am a beginner with bees and my friend has never experienced slugs in 25
years.
I am in Glasgow in the Central Scottish belt if that is relevant, - A
'temperate' climate. Hives are located beside a rhubarb patch.

Hi Ed. I don't want to get rid of you - but there's forums, see below,
where the subject is bees. With all this rain, I've started to find
slugs in my kitchen!! Even the cats are not sure ... But I don't know
about slugs and bees. See if this helps.

http://www.bbka.org.uk/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=4
http://www.derbyshire-bka.org.uk/forum/

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...
In reply to Mary Fisher ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...


Don't worry about slugs.

But, if you do, they won't climb up vaseline. You could vaseline the
hive legs.

It wouldn't stay on - I've tried it.

It stays on my pots, and wood. Last a few day, even in the rain.

A few days isn't permanent, slugs are.

Mary