FARM How to keep bees in bear country? - Advice requested

O

Old Gray Mare

TB Fanatic
How to keep bees in bear country? - Advice requested

It looks like we may be relocating to bear country. Do any of you have are any suggestions on how to keep hives safe from honey loving bears? Any suggestions other than ones involving lead shot? According to locals there is a black bear who migrates in spring and fall through the area we are thinking of relocating to. The locals watch for him and call each other and map his progress through the area. I would not say that he is a pet but I do not want to be known as "that dang new comer who shot Whinny the Pooh".
 
Be Well

Be Well

may all be well
Electric fence. When I first moved here about 11 years ago we camped on our property for half a year while hub built something. One night we heard a very loud angry roar. A neighbor told me (about 3 or 4 properties down - each is 5 acres) that a bear tried to get into her apples trees and touched the electric fence. He got mad and didn't try again... Just put the electric fence at a good perimeter around the hive area. Or an 8 foot chain link fence, regular hog wire fencing won't stop them. We had them just sort of run through regular wire fencing.
 
rafter

rafter

Since 1999
Yep electric fence. They even use it in Alaska in bad grizzly country for a 'stockade' for people to camp in tents in.
 
K

ktrapper

Veteran Member
From the heart of bear country, interior AK, yes electric fence the more powerful the better. We have had to kill three grizzlies in our yard. Now we use Karelian Bear Dogs. No bears in the yard since we got them. Our bees have never been raided by the bears nor have we lost any horses or other livestock to bears, wolves, lynx or coyotes since getting KBDs. West Siberian Laikas will do the same as KBDs and both make excellent large game hunting dogs for when the SHTF. In most areas hunting with dogs is illegal but in a grid down situation do what you gotta do. I'll be moose hunting with my KBDs. We take them horseback riding with into the bush and have never had a bear horse scare incident. Our horses actually rely on the KBDs to alert them to danger. When our horses are out free grazing and the dogs start barking at a booger in the woods the horses will immediately move back towards the cabin and barn to a safety. KBD don't bark unless they smell something or really here or see something. No nuisance barking. Here is a link to a video of two KBDs working a bear in a KBD competition. Notice the bear is on a over head tag line with plenty of movement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp-eaTbVfLY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l_RFqq6-bQ
Enjoy the videos.
wildo I hope you see this.
We raise KBDs but unfortunately our females whelp in the winter and the airlines will not fly pups out of AK in the middle of the winter. Jack Knife Mountain in WA has a good line of pups.
For the most complete information on the breed go to www.karelianbeardog.us
It is the site of California Karelians. Complete history of the breed.
Contrary to popular belief, maybe it is the particular blood line we have or maybe it's because our dogs live in the bush and have plenty to do, ours don't fight, they don't destroy anything. If I left three of ours in the cabin all day and left I would expect the cabin to be in the order I left it when I return.
Ours are great with kids as well.
Here is another video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl1bOlfU9XI
 
Be Well

Be Well

may all be well
And if concerned about a grid down situation, electric fences can run on small solar panels, iirc.
 
O

Old Gray Mare

TB Fanatic
Thank you all for your replies. We have an solar electric fence for the goats. It is the only thing that has slowed down our four footed escape artist. I'm not sure what we have is strong enough to stop a bear. If we have to get one with a stronger zap it will be a cheap price to pay. I have been working with bees for three years now and this is the first hive that has made it through the winter and do not want to lose it.
 
P

Publius

TB Fanatic
You want to invest in a good solar powered electric fence charger and you will need heavy fence posts and heavy gage wire with a good tension setup for each wire that can be adjusted tighter when needed. Even with that a bear may get threw and I say may. Note it's not the honey the bear wants, but the larva! Protein and the honey just comes with deal.
 
T

tm1439m

Veteran Member
I do not know bears nor do I know bees all that well when you get right down to it.
Do honey bees care if they are off the ground?
Common sense tells me if they will live off the ground you could put up a pole just above the bears reach then hang the hive from it. Maybe two polls spread apart far enough to hang several hives from a pipe ran between them. You would have to use a ladder or maybe a fork lift or even a front end loader to get to them but at least the bears would not get them.

Maybe you could build some sort of platform with round maybe steel poles so the bear could not climb them and place the bees up there.

I did a couple week long canoe trip in the wilderness on the boarder between USA and Canada when I was younger and we hung our food packs from trees at night to keep the bears from getting them.
 
jehu

jehu

Mapper of Landmarks
tm1439m said:
Maybe you could build some sort of platform with round maybe steel poles so the bear could not climb them and place the bees up there.
Nice idea, and i've gone camping and used the same thing.

The only drawback is the weight of the hives. A full super will weigh 60 - 80+ pounds.

Try carrying a fragile sticky box of that weight, with 50,000 - 60,000 angry bees, and a hot smoker, while encased in a veil and long sleeved jacket, with gloves on down a ladder without incident.

You could post the resulting video on Youtube, and buy a real nice solar powered electric fencing system with the proceeds..... :)


Electric fencing is the way to go. We have black bears around here, and that is the only real deterrent that folks are utilizing.

Now skunks are another thing altogether. They can be defeated by carpet tack strips across the front of the entrance board....
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Click to expand...
 
T

tm1439m

Veteran Member
jehu said:
tm1439m said:
Maybe you could build some sort of platform with round maybe steel poles so the bear could not climb them and place the bees up there.
Nice idea, and i've gone camping and used the same thing.

The only drawback is the weight of the hives. A full super will weigh 60 - 80+ pounds.

Try carrying a fragile sticky box of that weight, with 50,000 - 60,000 angry bees, and a hot smoker, while encased in a veil and long sleeved jacket, with gloves on down a ladder without incident.

You could post the resulting video on Youtube, and buy a real nice solar powered electric fencing system with the proceeds..... :)


Electric fencing is the way to go. We have black bears around here, and that is the only real deterrent that folks are utilizing.

Now skunks are another thing altogether. They can be defeated by carpet tack strips across the front of the entrance board....
Click to expand...

:lkick::lkick: That is funny. Maybe you could have a pulley system to raise and lower the hive. If (big if) I ever do it I will post it to youtube ha ha.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Wildweasel

Wildweasel

F-4 Phantoms Phorever
But then you'd have to deal with bears playing pinyata with your hives.

Go with the electric fence and use a double or triple-row wire arrangement. This will make sure the bears do not jump over or limbo under a single-wire fence.

Had a neighbor lose hives on two occasions before they went to a three-wire fence. No bear problems since then.

The bears in question included a 700+ lb male who demonstrated an ability to make running jumps over a low fence and a juvenile who simply belly crawled under the single wire. The two additional wires stopped those methods of entry and the bees have buzzed happily ever after.

WW
 
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