Allotments 4 All

Well, that is a whole host of different worries Robert, in the same way I imagine anyone else with livestock, no matter what sort, would worry about rats.

Interesting point, Robert. I could never understand why rats did not raid my hives (WBC's) in winter when they lived under my chicken and rabbit shed happily only 25yards away. The only thing I could think was that the attraction of the animal food (inevitable to scatter some) was greater than the attraction of the stores in the hives. Or perhaps they just preferred savoury to sweet. Mind you my bees were black and vicious except for one hive, smoke had only a little effect on them; they scared me let alone rats. Moral, Robert, keep some chickens close to your hives.

R_B,
I'm gutted. That's a first - I'll talk to my bee keeping mate & discuss.

Funny thing is, the beekeeping books only talk about mice as pests, and don't mention rats. When I mentioned rat damage - either on one of the beekeeping E-lists or in Beecraft magazine, I forget which - someone came back and said he's lost a complete apiary to them, they went through every hive.

Even vicious bees are helpless in cold weather, when they can't survive outside the cluster. Mine are black and good-tempered.