Something is scratching at my hive entrances at night — found claw marks and torn-up grass
Jalisco highlands, 12 hives on low stands. Three mornings in a row now I've found the same scene at two hives: little scratch marks on the landing boards and around the entrance, matted grass in front, and a patch of what looks like chewed-up bee bits in the dirt. The colonies seem more defensive than usual during the day — one of these two hives pinged my veil before I'd even opened it, which isn't like them.
No boxes tipped over, so I don't think we're talking about anything big. Last night I sat out with a flashlight for an hour and saw nothing, of course.
My guess is a skunk or something skunk-like working the entrance. What's the tell, and what's the fix that actually works without hurting the animal?
#skunk#predators#hive-stand#night-visitor
▲ 12 votes💬 4 replies✅ Solved
4 replies
GeorgiaWes · Jul 18, 2026 · ✅ Accepted answer
That's a skunk, textbook. Confirmation: small twisted pellets of chewed bee carcasses near the hive (they chew the bees, suck the juice, spit the rest). The daytime crankiness is the other classic tell — colonies harassed all night turn testy for weeks.
Fix is mechanical: get the hives up. 45-50 cm off the ground makes the skunk stand on its hind legs and expose its belly, exactly where the bees will sting it — a few nights of that and it quits. A strip of carpet tack board, points up, in front of the entrance speeds up the lesson. No harm done beyond hurt feelings.
QuebecBees · Jul 18, 2026
Skunks are my most reliable winter-spring visitor in Quebec and GeorgiaWes's answer is complete. I'll just add: chicken wire fence works too if raising 12 hives at once is a pain, and check for a food source you control — mine kept coming back until I moved the deadout I'd left stacked nearby.
VTBeeHannah · Jul 18, 2026
The belly-sting thing is real — I raised my two hives onto cinder blocks after the same scratching last fall and found skunk tracks approaching and then clearly LEAVING in a hurry a week later. Never came back. Vermont skunks learn fast apparently.
AbejaMiguel · Jul 19, 2026
Found the chewed pellets this morning exactly where you said to look — mystery solved. It's most likely a hog-nosed skunk, we have plenty. Blocks and tack strips going in this weekend. Gracias, all.