Hi. Quick Question. Is it a good idea, or necessary to put a mouseguard over your new hive entrance before installing your nuc? I read on one site that it’s important to repel invaders before the colony gets established, but I haven’t seen it in advice anywhere else. Grateful for your thoughts on this.
If your hive is in an area where there are mice then a mouse guard will help protect the bees from being eaten. Here on the East coast of Australia I fit them to protect against field mice and the Sugar Cane Toad, they are like a huge ugly frog and will feed on bees at the entrance but the mouse guard stops them getting inside the hive. This is the one I use.
Cheers
Hi Ronan, we put mouse guards on in fall to keep mice from nesting in hives. During cold winter months when bees are clustered in one upper area, a mouse can sneak in and make a home on the floor of the hive. They might eat some dead bees, but the real problem is that they make a big dirty mess! And eat the honey stores! and chew on the wood frames…
If your bees are actively working in the hive, foraging etc, a mouse won’t go near your bees - one sting would probably be lethal.
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Happy cake day to you Eva, I see you got that award. 
Mice are not an issue here but I would guess they wouldn’t be a welcome visitor in a hive.
Here we use the mouse guard to keep the Cane Toads out and a lot of stings are needed to kill them. @JeffH posted a photo some time back of a Cane Toad with 100’s of stings till it died. I don’t see them during the day but can hardly take a step at night without seeing them.
Stay safe and cheers
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Hi Pete, I don’t use mouse guards to keep toads out. That particular toad got into the back of a hive that someone asked me to take over. There was a big gap in the back of the hive which was closer to the ground than the entrance. The gap was left after I removed a beetle trap that was roughly the size of an old video cartridge. I removed It after my first inspection & planned on replacing that bottom board which was too deep and also contained the large gap. That was when I found the toad, in the large space below the brood frames.
cheers
Cane toads are beautiful. Your just as ugly 
