Several weeks ago I was out when my father called to tell me that a bear had attacked my hives. When I showed up the bear was in the yard in broad daylight. The bear had thrown everything around. One of my hives had seeked shelter on a tree because the bear had destroyed all their frames while the other was not as damaged and bees were still on 6 frames that were on the ground. Luckily I had added a deep to one and was building the other one so I had frames with me. We collected the frames from the hive that still had several left and scrapped off dozens of dead bees that were smashed. :( We then added four new frames but the frames for the other hive were a complete loss. We captured the bees from the tree and let them settle in some. It was now dusk and we could hear the bear out in the bushes. We banged a spoon against a pot in hopes to scare him away but no luck, the bear kept crashing out in the bushes and we realized that we had to move the bees quickly. Luckily we had a location done in Auburn CA for the bees, so we attached screens to the front and shipped them down the hill to Auburn. Since then both hives have done extremely well, neither queen was killed and the bees have managed to find plenty of pollen and nectar in the area.
Here is an image of the damage.
http://malsbees.googlepages.com/DSCF0372.jpg (http://malsbees.googlepages.com/DSCF0372.jpg)
hmmm bear skin rugs are so warm on the feet in the winter ;)
MMMM..bear steak...honey roasted...
12 ga with slugs would be my choice if within 50 yards. Further out a 30 cal rifle such as a .308, 30-06, .300 Win mag.
Agree, a bear skin rug sure is warm.
Personally would not go after a bear just for his hide. On the other hand, if a bear got into my bees, I would do my best to make a few large caliber holes in his hide. If he, or she, didn't stink like it had been into a road kill, I'd even consider eating it.
I feel for you, luckily I was there when the bear knocked the hive over so the damage was just a few hundred dead bees and smashed comb that bees have fixed already. Hasn't been back yet. Knock on wood. A friend's hive got knocked over last night, but he had it strapped down and bear never got into it. Good luck.
Regarding the above advice, I'm assuming shooting the bear is more or less a joke.
I'd assume that a poaching fine for shooting a bear out of season without a license would far exceed the cost of an electric fence. Granted, that means you have to get caught to get fined, but really, you'd know that poaching is wrong, and beekeepers in general seem to be good stewards of the land, so poaching isn't really in line with that, right? Besides, So you take the skin and make a nice rug from this bear, but what are you going to do with the other 350-450 lbs (or more) of bear carcass? Also, maybe you kill this bear that has found your hives, and you don't get caught. If bears are in your area, more will find your hives. How many can you poach and dispose of?
And I thought deer in my garden was a problem.
Quote from: Moonshae on July 09, 2007, 08:38:35 PM
Regarding the above advice, I'm assuming shooting the bear is more or less a joke.
Yes it is a joke. I do not kill an animal just because it is trying to get food. I should have installed an electric fence knowing that we have bears around occasionly. By the way I got my first sting, right on my back and then ten minutes later another bee stung me in the back.
You need to rig something down near those hives that can be activated from a distance that will hit that bear with some Pepper Spray. If you can get him to associate messing with those hives to getting a dose of Pepper Spray every time, he will start going somewhere else. I'm sure the bees won't be too keen on the spray - but bears are REALLY bothered by it because they have an acute sense of smell.
--Jeff
Not to mention, bear meat is really greasy.
Quote from: Holycow on July 09, 2007, 11:58:28 PM
You need to rig something down near those hives that can be activated from a distance that will hit that bear with some Pepper Spray. If you can get him to associate messing with those hives to getting a dose of Pepper Spray every time, he will start going somewhere else. I'm sure the bees won't be too keen on the spray - but bears are REALLY bothered by it because they have an acute sense of smell.
--Jeff
Wouldn't an electric fence be easier to set up. Plus I would probably spray myself by accident.
Oh what a mess...so sorry that happened...Where is Blue Canyon? Get thee an elecric fence...you can even get solar generators for them!
Good Luck
Quote from: DayValleyDahlias on July 10, 2007, 11:59:22 AM
Oh what a mess...so sorry that happened...Where is Blue Canyon? Get thee an elecric fence...you can even get solar generators for them!
Good Luck
Blue Canyon is about an hour from Sacramento on Interstate 80, below is a link of the location on google maps. And yes I definitely need to get an electric fence because otherwise I going to have to keep the bees in my room. :-D
http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=+Blue+Canyon,+Uninc+Placer+County,+CA&sll=38.930745,-121.09717&sspn=1.346019,3.010254&ie=UTF8&t=k&z=12&iwloc=addr&om=1 (http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=+Blue+Canyon,+Uninc+Placer+County,+CA&sll=38.930745,-121.09717&sspn=1.346019,3.010254&ie=UTF8&t=k&z=12&iwloc=addr&om=1)
love blue canyon. used to live in meadow vista. folks are still there.
electric fence! 3 strands of 12 gauge with a 50 mile charger. bait the fence with whatever, and let them hit it. seems to work well around here.
Quote from: kathyp on July 10, 2007, 04:26:13 PM
love blue canyon. used to live in meadow vista. folks are still there.
electric fence! 3 strands of 12 gauge with a 50 mile charger. bait the fence with whatever, and let them hit it. seems to work well around here.
Yes it is nice up here. It is a lot cooler than down in the valley and we have tons of trees and manzanita. Thank you for the info on how to set up the electric fence, do you know what voltage I should use? Maybe I should use a million volts and really give that bear a jolt. :evil:
the charger will regulate the zap. chargers are available in feed stores, stock catalogs, etc.