There are many insects as well as animals that are attracted to beehives. This is mainly due to honey- a sugary liquid produced by the mother bee and worker bees, but do rats attack Bee hives?
Yes, rats attack beehives. It is not the bees that they are after but rather their byproducts that a rat wants so much. Through their action of attacking a beehive, rats may destroy them.
In this article, we will read through the reasons why rats attack beehives and how the beehives can be protected so that honey production is not halted.
Do Rats Like Honey?
A rat is an omnivore; it can feed on smaller insects and vegetables. However, the rats do not like sticky foods.
They spend hours trying to get the honey out of their furs. Nevertheless, if rats come near a honey source, they will feed on it.
A source of honey is like candy for rats; it is excellent for them to have it but not daily.
Moreover, the honey bees are excellent, retaliators. If you attack them and interfere with their home, they will come after you in no time at all.
Can Rats Eat Honey?
Yes, rats can eat honey. Seldom will they go out, and climb a tree just to get to a beehive.
However, if we talk about pet rats and if honey is being offered to them, the rats take it as a treat and feed on it quickly.
Rats can nearly eat everything that you give to them.
However, like many other animals, they have an affinity for sweet food sources and tend to consume them more than non-sugary ones.
Can I Feed My Rat Honey?
For all those people who have rats as their pets, they can feed rats, and honey. Honey means sweetness, and rats get attracted to it.
If you want to offer something as an incentive to a rat, offering them honey is the best way to go about it.
Good Manuka honey is used widely for wound healing. It can also be applied to rats as a remedy and given to them if they have suffered injury or fallen sick.
A rat will come near it and try licking it off over time.
Do Beehives Attract Rats?
Rats are attracted to beehives for a number of reasons, including:
- Food
- Optimum temperature
- Safety
- Presence of honeycombs that have dripping honey.
Rats attacking and feeding on beehives is one of the major problems that beekeepers face.
Therefore, it has become necessary to keep beehive predators away from bees. As rats are smaller, they require more monitoring than most animals.
Are Rats Afraid Of Bees?
Rats are not afraid of bees. Instead, they are attracted to their honey so much that they do not mind climbing up a tree, finding a beehive, and then trying to lick it to obtain some honey from it.
However, the bees are quick to spring into action and not hesitant to take a bit of any predator that comes to feed on all their hard work.
Moreover, the rats start running away from a beehive once the bees fly after them and chase them away. Like all other animals, even rats fear the sting of a bee.
Rats And Beehives
It is common for the bees to sting their predators and keep them at a distance from them.
There are reports of dead rats being found in the hive space, and they had indeed been stung by bees.
The bees are capable of restoring their hives after predators like rats have attacked them. It is a beekeeper’s job to keep the rats away by adopting appropriate measures.
Do Rats Eat Bees?
The predation of rats eating bees is uncommon, and it is doubtful that you will find rats feeding on the bees.
However, a rat will provide pollen products as well as honey. There are a few issues regarding this consumption the:
1) Pollen and honey might have rat hairs during cultivation
2) The honeycomb output is reduced as rats claw through them
3) The bees are afraid of rats and flee away due to constant disturbance.
How To Spot And Identify A Rat Infestation
Rats are active animals and are quick to announce their presence.
The beekeepers are on the lookout for similar signs like:
1) Rat droppings
Rats leave behind their droppings around hives. The size of the droppings helps in determining the size of the rat.
The most dropping is always near their hideout place.
2) Rub marks
Rats have a way of clawing everything that they want to eat. Similarly, these rub marks can be observed on the beehives and can be taken as a sign of a rat attack.
The rats also drop off dirt as well as smudges while they move from one place to another.
3) Scratching Noises
Rats are responsible for causing a lot of domestic accidents. So if you have bee hives present on your farm, you might come across screeching marks of claws on wood as well as wires.
This way, you can be sure of the presence of rats.
Protecting Your Beehives From Rats
Rats are stubborn pests and are difficult to deal with. Most beekeepers apply domestic tips to keep the rats away.
In this article, I am going to highlight a few of them to keep the rats away:
1) Hygiene of the hive
The first and foremost prevention against rats is to keep the area clean. It is one of the most effective ways of repelling rats. If the hive is not well maintained and cleaned, it will invite the rats to attack and feed on honey.
2) Raising the hive’s level
A hive must be high enough and out of the reach of rats. Although there are many measures by which you can kill rats, the ideal option is to keep them away. Rats and many other predators find it difficult to climb up high.
3) Use of Odor Repellents
Rats can be repelled away by odors. They can smell it from a distance. Odors like peppermint, vinegar, bleach, garlic, and peppermint oil have proven to keep the rats away.
4) Use of entrance Reducers
Bees release propolis to protect themselves. However, the entrance reducers can fight off insects like wasps and keep small animals like rats and mice away for good.
5) Keeping a cat
Perhaps, the best way to get rid of rats is simply by keeping a cat as a pet. This way, the cat will hunt down all the rats in the vicinity, and you will not have to worry about rat infestations in beehives. Moreover, cats do no harm to beehives.
Wrapping Up
Rats are pesty animals and want to get hold of anything that they can eat. Rats are fond of honey, and in their attempt to obtain it, they attack beehives.
However, this can be prevented by taking appropriate measures like installing rat traps, hunting rats down, and killing them before they cause contamination to honey stores, and you suffer a huge loss.
References
- Honey Bee enemies
- The Pennsylvania State University-Honey Bee Predators
