Hi Gino,
Our hives are in a really heavily populated badger area (although this may
change if Oxfordshire gets included in the badger cull footprint!) on hillside
allotments out in the boondocks (one sett actually on-site!). So we’ve had to
take precautions from day one – some five years ago.
Having handy access to used wooden pallets from a local farm, I simply made a
stockade of the sturdier ones around each hive, joined together with 8” screws
through the adjoining
wooden support blocks of the pallets.
Usual plan is two to each side & one across at each end. I clad the outside of
the pallets with used sheets of polycarbonate roofing material to reduce
wind-chill and the hives themselves (home-made of very thick pine) are
insulated with 2” & 3” Celotex. So far Mr. Brock has left us alone....
We work a non-intervention system with our colonies so quick access is not an
issue for us, although with a good cordless power drill, the front end pallet
can be removed if necessary. I do use slabs of stone laid flat to keep the
area in front of the hives free of grass & nettles.
Happy to send you a photo (tried as an attachment to this email but it wouldn’t
go)
Chris (Pym) & Mary (de Jong)
From: Gino Sprio
Sent: Tuesday, March 6, 2018 10:51 PM
To: oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [oxnatbees] Re: Badgers!
Hi Paul
As you know my hives are on various farmer's land.
I know there are badgers in the area with access to the hives. To date I've not
had badgers get into a hive.
Most of the hives are substantial top bar hives but I also have some nuc size
boxes on the ground and fingers crossed no problems.
Gino
On 6 March 2018 at 22:10, Paul Honigmann <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Long story short, I have to move my horizontal top bar hives off the
allotments. I have been offered a marvellous alternative site, but it is
infested by badgers. I have heard TBH's are "more resistant" to badgers than
other types, but I don't know HOW badger-proof they are. Does anyone have any
information on whether badgers ignore nearby TBHs or just do their usual
smash-and-eat thing?
Ironically, the site's owners brought up the subject of badgers by asking if
the bees would be a hazard to the badgers. I relayed Alison's story about a
badger eating a wasp nest, wasps and all.
Paul
