GalwayBees · Galway, IE · Pests & Disease · Sep 29, 2026

Found a mouse nest under the frames already in September — what do I do with the chewed comb and the nest?

Well. I was going to fit the mouse guards this weekend, and it turns out a mouse had the same calendar as me but got there first. Galway, second year, three colonies. Lifted the brood box off the floor of my weakest hive this morning to swap in a clean floor and a mouse shot out from under it. In the back corner, under the outer two frames, there was a nest of chewed grass, bits of my woollen jumper (?!) and shredded comb. Both outer frames are chewed right through in the bottom third and the whole lot stinks of mouse pee. The bees are all clustered on the other six frames and seemed to be ignoring it. I panicked slightly, closed it back up and came inside to ask. What do I actually do — pull the nest and the two chewed frames out? Is the smell going to be a problem for the bees over winter? And is there any point putting a guard on now, or is the damage done and it'll just come back?

#mice#mouse-guard#winter-prep#damaged-comb

▲ 1 votes 💬 1 replies ✅ Solved

1 reply

PerthshireBees · Sep 29, 2026 · ✅ Accepted answer

Go back out today. Clear every bit of nest material and both chewed, pee-soaked frames — the bees won't clean it and the smell says "vacant flat" to the next mouse. Freeze those frames and render them. Swap in a frame of drawn comb or stores from a stronger colony on the outside; if you have none, a dummy board beats a chewed frame. Scrape the floor, then guard on — 9-10 mm holes so bees pass and mice don't. Guards on all three today; mice move in when nights go cold, not on the first frost, and in Galway that was a fortnight ago.

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