Menage a trois

I disturbed some deviants in my apiary today.

I was going back to an apiary I have just vacated to collect an empty hive which was full of brood combs. The colony had gone queenless at the end of last season and when it dies out I closed up the entrance. First, I took the roof and top cover board away, but when I looked ion between the combs I saw a large oak leaf. Strange, how did that get there? Then a smell entered my nostrils -- a bit like the whiff of the rabbit hutch I had as a child. Then a little head popped up to see what was happening.

It was a little field mouse. It thought for a bit, then it went back underneath the leaves between the combs. I didn't really want another pet, so I encouraged it to go. Reluctantly, it went. Then out dashed another. Then a third! They were all full-grown, so I'm not sure why three were sharing the nest. Perhaps, I shouldn't ask.