# Mouse-Proofing Mesh?



## Duboisi (Oct 7, 2009)

I think you have to go down to quarter-inch mesh to stop the mouse.


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## okbees (Nov 3, 2010)

We use 1/2 inch in the front for mouse guards and haven't had any problems, and wire is cheap. We just use a staple gun to hold the wire in place.


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

I used 1/2 inch mesh last winter and experienced no problems with mice.


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## Katharina (May 2, 2011)

Look for 3/8" spacing. 1/2" is pretty close.


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## Mud Songs (Sep 30, 2010)

Yeah, it looks like half-inch mesh is fine. I couldn't remember where I first heard about it, but I found the source. Michael Palmer talks about using the mesh at the 16-minute mark in the "Over Wintering Bees and Beekeeping Discussion Panel" video posted here on the Brushy Mountain website:

http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/Resources/Videos.asp

I'll take his word for it. Thanks for the feedback.


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## rkereid (Dec 20, 2009)

I have had no mice with 1/2" a la Mike Palmer's method. It is folded into the entrance though, which would reduce the 1/2" dimension in one direction. Would be more like 3/8" x 1/2".


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## Mud Songs (Sep 30, 2010)

rkereid said:


> I have had no mice with 1/2" a la Mike Palmer's method. It is folded into the entrance though, which would reduce the 1/2" dimension in one direction. Would be more like 3/8" x 1/2".


Good point. I have my stapled on at the moment. I should probably fold it into the entrance just to be safe. Thanks.


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## delber (Dec 26, 2010)

I was told some time ago that a mouse can get in a hole that's the size of a large pencil. My assumption would be not the "standard" size, but the round ones that are just larger than that. That being the case I'd consider larger than 1/2". However MP I wouldn't go against. He has forgotten well more than I've ever known about bees, so I'd stick with it. Depending upon the wire gauge your openings will be smaller than 1/2". Probably closer to a heavy 3/8 or 7/16". IMHO folding it in the entrance would be better.


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

You'll find out soon enough if 1/2" will work, but I can tell you mice got into one of my hives last winter through the 3/8 " entrance. I have sheet metal reducers on this fall.


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

All my bottom boards have a 5/16" opening and I don`t use reducers and I had 1 of 20 hives with a mouse in it this spring.


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## Rick 1456 (Jun 22, 2010)

As in all species of life, there are those that are just a smaller version. 
1/2 inch, no problems.


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## delber (Dec 26, 2010)

Ok Perhaps a dumb question. . . But what are the "problems" other than with the equipment that they chew through with them getting in the hive? I know that they would also leave a bit of a mess on the bottom board or wherever they are so that could be another.


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

getting through a 3/8 inch hive opening is not the same as fitting through a 3/8 inch mesh. Mice can flatten themselves out but they still need greater width to the hole.
What I gauge by is several holes I have seen mice chew through plywood floors. they are always about the size of a penny round and I suspect gotten just large enough for them to squeeze through in regard to both height and width. I have seen a mouse squeeze itself through a 1/4 inch slit that was 36 inches wide as well.


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## rkereid (Dec 20, 2009)

delber said:


> Ok Perhaps a dumb question. . . But what are the "problems" other than with the equipment that they chew through with them getting in the hive? I know that they would also leave a bit of a mess on the bottom board or wherever they are so that could be another.


When mice get in a hive, being the mammals that they are, they are fairly active even in cold weather. While they are active, and your bees can hardly move from the cold, the mice are eating bees, pollen, and honey, and destroying comb, not to mention all the nest debris. They will wipe out a hive because your bees are defenseless in the cold.


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

Not to mention the damage urinating does.


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## danno (Dec 17, 2007)

If a mouse can fit his skull through a hole he's in. In summer when adults are spitting out a litter a month small mice that will fit through 1/2 inch mesh are everywhere. When colder temps come they dont quit breeding but really slow down and they dont travel as much as in summer. 1/2 should work 99% of the time but what i do is cut 1/2 mesh about 2inches wide and fold it so the holes are now 1/2 wide and 1/4 to 3/8 high. I fasten this to a 3/4 X 3/4 X 15 inch pc of wood with 2 screw holes drilled in it. I winter 25 to 50 colonies here in Michigan and with this method i have never had a mouse problem


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

FYI
I located some 3/8" poly coated "HWC" at my local B&b Do-It center.
It's a special order item and it's in 15' lenghths.


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## DUKPT (Apr 8, 2011)

Brushy Mountain...... It cost me five - six dollars for three mouse guards for the entrances.


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## TomOB (Jun 1, 2003)

Katharina said:


> Look for 3/8" spacing. 1/2" is pretty close.


I agree K ... i am using a mesh a tad larger than 3/8" .... keeping in mind the bee space is that


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## Cedar Hill (Jan 27, 2009)

1/2 inch mess is too large! If you haven't had mouse damage yet then consider yourself lucky. Since it's a long term investment of time and money, chose 3/8" and prevent heartbreak. Sure 3/8" seems harder to get but it won't fail. What no one has mentioned is the following "The least shrew (Cryptotis parva), also known as the bee shrew, sometimes enters hives and destroys the young brood." (Jackson 1961) Shrews do enter hives and will easily penetrate 1/2" mesh. It's happened to my hives. OMTCW


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## megank (Mar 28, 2006)

If you look at a mouse skull it is flatten which allows it to crawl in gaps, I don't think a mouse would be able to fit through a 1/2" square


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

How about a robbing screen? I am building some now and stapled some ½” hardware cloth over the entrances. Mostly just because I had some lying around and thought it would not hurt.


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## rkereid (Dec 20, 2009)

minz said:


> How about a robbing screen? I am building some now and stapled some ½” hardware cloth over the entrances. Mostly just because I had some lying around and thought it would not hurt.


I have found 1/2" hardware cloth does not work for a robbing screen. The bees go right through it. Window screen (nice and cheap) does work though.


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## Scrapfe (Jul 25, 2008)

The least bee space is 1/4 inch, meaning this is the smallest passage queens, workers, and drones can squeese through, so why not use 1/4 inch hardware cloth.


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

Sorry, I was not clear. I am using 1/8” hardware cloth for the front (window screen would have been cheaper and easier to work with) but still using the ½” for the entrance to keep mice from simply climbing over it. I would not think a mouse would be deterred from the Z and the screen should give them a nice ladder. There has been some debate about if the ½” will keep them out. I know we have a ton of shrews here.


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## Cedar Hill (Jan 27, 2009)

Scrapfe said:


> The least bee space is 1/4 inch, meaning this is the smallest passage queens, workers, and drones can squeese through, so why not use 1/4 inch hardware cloth.


 Because a 1/4" screen does not allow all of the pollen sacs through. You will then find that many of the pollen gatherers will lose their "load" outside at the screen. OMTCW


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