# Is skunk a serious problem?



## SwedeBee1970 (Oct 26, 2008)

For one, Skunks usually like hives when they're close to the ground. The bees can't get to the tender skin on their bellies easily this way. See an example of my hives. I use these metal gussets to deter all animals and makes them climb up to expose things....


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## Dave W (Aug 3, 2002)

Skunks not only eat bees they will scratch on hive to get bees to come out, and cause lots of "damage" just by disturbing the bees when it’s cold.

Bees can only "deter" a skunk if the skunk "stands up" and exposes its tummy area  A well placed sting there only causes the skunk to "flinch". 

I'm told by a very "well informed" very knowledgeable beekeeper that an aspirin inside a chicken eggs prevent the skunk from returning to apiary.


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## CentralPAguy (Feb 8, 2009)

I live in town and have 2 hives in my backyard where in the summertime, massive amounts of bees would cool off on the landing board and outside of the hive. One day, I looked down in front of each hive and there was skat which appeared to contain undigested bee parts.

The only wild animals that run amouck in town are skunks and I made the assumption that skunks were dining. Though I never saw them in action, I took steps and fenced in my hives as my girls are too precious to end up as dinner.

When I create Beeyards, I automatically put a two foot fence around them and have had no trouble with skunks. 

There are individuals in this forum who put their hive entrance at the top of the hive and not at the bottom and avoid this problem altogether.


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

You could put some carpet tack strip out, too see if that keeps them away until you find a better solution.


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## The Honey Householder (Nov 14, 2008)

Mix cat food and decon together, and put it under the hives. The ***** and skunks love it. 
It might take a few feedings, but it gets the job done.


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## SwedeBee1970 (Oct 26, 2008)

Be careful with that. You could also start killing the neighbors cats or loose dogs. Worse yet, your own animals. If you poison those animals, whatever eats them if not disposed properly, becomes affected. Use caution with this one.....


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

I put cat food/tuna fish/fruit depending on what I want to catch, in a live trap. Gently put a old blanket over the trap after I catch them and walk them to the truck and drive them to another locale and let them go on their way.


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## SwedeBee1970 (Oct 26, 2008)

Don't they spray the blanket when trapped ?


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## My-smokepole (Apr 14, 2008)

Jeffzhear you might be carefully with that one I know in the state of Oh to do that is illegal. That they need to be dispatch. I have a good on on that friend does some pest trapping. He got a call on a family of skunk living under someone out buildings. Over a series of nights he caught them. When he caught them he would release them in ONE local park. About a moth later he reads that the park is being over run by skunks 
David


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## 11x (May 14, 2009)

if you want to know for shure go to your local sporting goods store and purchase a trail camera. you can get them for 50$ or so. it will take a pic of anything neer your hives. even people who might try to steal them. works for me. i have a friend who was gona destroy a hive cause thay got mean. he put up a trail cam and fount that skunks were harassing the hive making it defensive. when the skunk was dealt with the bees were back to normal in a few days


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## SwedeBee1970 (Oct 26, 2008)

Not a bad idea. Call your local Conservation Police and ask them to either dispose of them for you or how to do it legally. I know that if it's a problem, they'll take care of it. One lady I knew was overrun with bears and once was chased away in her own backyard ! Conservation took care of it and relocated the bear and her cubs. Skunks may not be nearly as serious, but seriously annoying.


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## ACBEES (Mar 13, 2009)

Skunks, mice, toads are all a nuisance to bees when you have a bottom entrance on your hive. Read some threads about using top entrances for your hives. Seems to solve the nuisance problem and is possibly better for the bees.


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## SwedeBee1970 (Oct 26, 2008)

Or.......If you have outdoor cats. Plant some catnip near the hives.


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

ACBEES said:


> Skunks, mice, toads are all a nuisance to bees when you have a bottom entrance on your hive. Read some threads about using top entrances for your hives. Seems to solve the nuisance problem and is possibly better for the bees.


Add snakes to the list also...had a mean hive last summer until I spotted the snake and removed it.


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

Skunks (so far) haven`t been a problem for me but *"*****"* is a hole nuther story 

This year I found out that if you don`t remove ***** in a live trap from the bee yard eairly in the morning the bees will kill them in the trap. 
They sting them around the eyes and nose now I don`t if that will work with a skunk or not but if I catch one I think I will wait and see


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

Jeffzhear said:


> Add snakes to the list also...


Whoa that would bee a problem for me, I have a friend that opened an hive to find a snake on the innercover, now if that happened to me I would have a loundary problem--I don`t like snakes


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## cow pollinater (Dec 5, 2007)

Yeah, I found a rattle snake under a pallet this summer... I shouted quite a few "audible ignorances" over that one.

As far as skunks goes, pokes a hole in an egg shell and suck out some egg. mix it with asprin and put it back in the shell. In the evening, put it close to the hives. Anything sneaking around has to be capable of withstanding some stings(they'll be more than just a little defensive at night if you have a skunk) and have a desire to eat a whole egg.


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## ACBEES (Mar 13, 2009)

Of the 11 rattlesnakes I came across around my place this summer/fall, I was able to dispatch 9 of them. The other two got away because I didn't have my gun or hoe with me. Fortunatley, none of them were in or around my bee hives.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>From your experience, can they cause significant damage to the yard (hives)?

Sometimes. I never had a problem until I moved here ten years ago, so for 25 years they were not a problem and then they were devastating my beeyard. My solution was top entrances and no bottom entrances and then I had no more skunk problems.

The "Apriegg" is three aspirin crushed and mixed into one raw egg. It seems effective on skunks and doesn't seem to interest the cats or hurt the dogs.


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## soupcan (Jan 2, 2005)

Gun powder & lead!


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Gun powder & lead! 

I tried that. Too much lost sleep and there are too many skunks...


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## soupcan (Jan 2, 2005)

Boy ain't that the truth.
Spoke with the game wardens 2 weeks ago about 60 miles north of you.
Way to may skunks, and most are rabid if they are seen in the daylite hours!
Small divit, cover the divit with ???? after you place a trap in the divit 1st.
Skunks do not like to be around there dead!
How are the roads by you as we speak?????


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Michael Bush said:


> >Gun powder & lead!
> 
> I tried that. Too much lost sleep and there are too many skunks...


Are you telling us your a bad shot?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Are you telling us your a bad shot?

Quite the opposite. But losing a night's sleep for each skunk is too time consuming.

>How are the roads by you as we speak????? 

Ice covered and drifting badly.


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## soupcan (Jan 2, 2005)

We left here at 3:20 to go to 4:00 mass.
Had to come home as the 1 mile drive was a joke & the church parking lot was full & several 100 cars were yet to try & park.
Changed to forecast in the past 15 minutes or so to a blizzard warning.
Hum!!!!
Happy Holidays I guess!


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## rwlaw (May 4, 2009)

If your really lazy and got 15 bucks or so, try bobcat or coyote urine (had really good luck w/ the bobcat). It saves me screwing around w/ a live trap most of the time (mich. demands that you destroy skunks and racoons, then I gotta bury the suckers). 
If money's tight try a t-shirt soaked w/ ammonia, don't know if I'd leave it in front of the hive though.


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## happybees (Oct 30, 2007)

The Honey Householder wrote: "Mix cat food and decon together, and put it under the hives. The ***** and skunks love it."

What is decon? I looked on-line and could not find any clues. I have heard that someone here in Sacramento got rid of 18 skunks from one yard. 
Thank for all your replies.I was amazed how many different suggestions you have. 
Merry Christmas to all beekeepers!


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## stripstrike (Aug 29, 2009)

Decon is rat/mouse poison. If you've got any neighborhood cats or dogs that roam I would not even think about setting that outside to take care of the skunks.

We have a large skunk population in my neighborhood. I trapped out five in a weeks time from my yard the second or third year I lived here. I probably could have kept going if I left the baited trap out.

I'm starting out in the spring with two hives. I'm putting both on stands about a foot high. I'm also prepared to go to only top entrances, but I'll wait for a little while before doing that to see if there's a problem.


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## SwedeBee1970 (Oct 26, 2008)

Here's an interesting site:

http://www.howtogetridofstuff.com/pest-control/how-to-get-rid-of-skunks/

Nice little article on bright lights. How about a little Solar Night Lite ? Or better yet, a couple of those Solar driveway lights ?


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## wcubed (Aug 24, 2008)

happybees:
Yes. They can be a problem - mostly because the skunk will pick out one or two hives in many to feed on. If they feed on only one all winter, they can make a sizable dent in the population of that hive. And yes, that little ball of bee shells that are ejected are notice of their presence. Often with claw scratches on the landing board.

Have tried many of the above remedies. Skunks are terra firma critters, and don't climb much - landing board height helps. Carpet tack strips, spanning the front edge of the landing board, are effective. Don't think lighting would help much - have seen them feeding on grounded insects under a street lamp.

Tried leg traps. They're vulnerable to that approach because they're not very bright. Stopped that when I found a chewed off paw in a trap. Too inhumane.

Gunpowder: Went out at dusk to wait for a maruader with my trusty 20 gauge. Comes Momma with four cute little trainees. Didn't have the heart to blast em. Went back the next day to raise the hives.

stripstrike:
A foot is not quite enough. Standing on their back legs, they can reach the landing board. 18 inches is better.
Walt W


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## happybees (Oct 30, 2007)

Michael Bush said:


> Sometimes. I never had a problem until I moved here ten years ago, so for 25 years they were not a problem and then they were devastating my beeyard. My solution was top entrances and no bottom entrances and then I had no more skunk problems.QUOTE]
> 
> Speaking about top entrances. Have you noticed any differences in bees winter survival between top and bottom entrances? I mean with the top entrance, the heat in the hive in the winter goes up, and gets out through the top entrance, with bottom entrance they seal every hole with propolis and usually cluster under the lid, where it is much warmer. Thanks.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Speaking about top entrances. Have you noticed any differences in bees winter survival between top and bottom entrances?

Yes. The top entrance hives survive better than bottom entrance hives. They have less moisture problems, don't get "snowed in" and don't have problems with mice moving in.

> I mean with the top entrance, the heat in the hive in the winter goes up, and gets out through the top entrance, with bottom entrance they seal every hole with propolis and usually cluster under the lid, where it is much warmer.

And wetter.

But they do the same with the top entrance except they don't close it all off, just all but the entrance and they do cluster under the lid where it is warmer and NOT wetter.


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## devdog108 (May 7, 2009)

Hey MB, you spawned another question.....with top only entrances are you just putting on flat boards at the bottom same size as the hive body? Basically cut to fit?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>with top only entrances are you just putting on flat boards at the bottom same size as the hive body?

No. I need a bee space at the bottom. I convert solid bottoms to feeders:

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfeeding.htm#BottomBoardFeeder


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## dtinberg (Jan 26, 2009)

I raised my hives up about 12 inches off the ground, this exposes their belly to the bees, and that seems to allowed the girls to defend themselves


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