YorkshireNewbee · Yorkshire, UK · Beginners · Oct 19, 2026
Woodpecker wrecked a neighbour's hive last winter — chicken wire, netting or plastic sheet, and when does it go on?
Yorkshire, first year. A chap at our association lost a colony in January to a green woodpecker that drilled a hole the size of a two-pound coin through the side of a brood box and then worked its way in. He showed us photographs at the meeting and it's put the fear into all of us newcomers.
My two hives are twenty metres from a mixed hedge with plenty of trees and I've definitely heard drumming nearby in spring.
The suggestions I've been given are chicken wire loosely wrapped around the boxes, heavy-duty netting draped over the whole hive, or a plastic feed sack cut open and pinned round the sides. The advice was all delivered with total confidence and all contradicted the next person's.
What actually works, and does it need to be loose so the bird can't get a grip? Does a plastic sheet cause a condensation problem that's worse than the woodpecker? And should I put it on now while it's mild and I'm not fumbling in the cold, or does leaving it on from October cause other problems?
Devon, fourth year. Loose is the key word — a bird needs somewhere to perch and grip while it drills, and anything that moves or sags defeats it. I use plastic-coated wire netting hung from the roof and standing off the boxes by a couple of centimetres, all round. Feed sacks work too and are cheaper, but pin them so air can move behind, not sealed tight to the wood.
CorkBeeRon · Oct 19, 2026
Cork. We get less of it than you but it happens. Put it on in November when the mild weather's gone and take it off in March — leaving netting on from October just gives you something to trip over and a place for mice to nest behind. And don't wrap plastic tight to the boxes, you'll make a damp problem worse than any bird.
PerthshireBees · Oct 19, 2026
Perthshire. Worth knowing they usually go in at the same place every year on the same hive, so if your association contact tells you which side and what height, that's where he needs the protection. YorkshireNewbee, also fill any old woodpecker hole you find with a wooden plug rather than tape — they come back to a soft repair.
YorkshireNewbee · Oct 20, 2026
Netting ordered, going on at the start of November with a gap behind it. Feels like a lot of preparation for a bird I've never seen at the hives, but the photos were grim.