Last week a bear gets through my electric fence and knocks over a hive.

Crap...damage wasn't too bad but 3 or 4 frames destroyed. Reassembled

the hive and looked for the entry through the fence, nothing obvious.

Returning from a business trip today I pull in and see the same hive knocked over.

Crap again. I've been doing bees for 15 years and have never had a bear go

through an electric fence. But twice in a week, this must be a big Hungary bear!

Now I have a game camera in position and have rechecked the fence.

Razor wire is next.

Update 12/5

Three nights ago a bear got into my neighbors bees (we are partners in the bee thing)
and destroyed 2 hives. I called the Fish and Wildlife office and they sent out a bear trap. Got the trap
set up yesterday afternoon.

So last night the bear tore a sheet of plywood off the bee house and avoided the
electric fence altogether. Destroyed two more hives..so in 3 nights he has destroyed
6 hives…

The door to the bear trap was sprung with no bear inside…The agent said that our area has
had sightings of a very large bear. I could see that the bear was in the cage but not all
the way the door tripped and the bear was able to back out. At least that is my theory.

I've got a call into the agent this am. This is getting interesting. BTW these visits are all
at night…Yes I will put out a game camera tonight….

Update 12/6

Installed a game camera with good results. We have a sow and a cub. The cub probably goes
100 pounds…the mom is at least 5 feet tall and stands 36 plus inches at the shoulders. The
cub stood up and placed a paw on the door to the trap and it snapped shut, crap. So no bears
were caught last night. My neighbor removed his two remaining hive and placed them in his shop.
I will be cooking bacon today and placing the bacon grease to enhance the trap….stay tuned,
there is probably more to come.

Update for 12/8

We caught a bear cub last night. The mom is probably close by. The game agent will be out later this AM.
A second trap will be brought where the cub was caught in an effort to catch mom. I haven't checked the
game camera yet. Not going into that area by myself. I know how fast a bear can move when it wants.
I will have a 357 with me when I do…The agent wants to relocate the mom and cub as a pair…Still trying
to set time aside to upload some pics…

More to come, I'm sure.

If was mine, a 30-06 , .300 win or .375 H&H would be next.

These are nocturnal attacks...

Id be staying up then..maybe put cans on the wire to make a lot of noise, etc.

http://www.gallagherusa.com/wildlife/predator-protection.aspx

http://www.gallagherusa.com/files/Gallagher-Gets-Grizzly.pdf

Put some bells on your wire and use a red filter on a spotlight.



Enjoy your new bear skin rug



 

its colder than shit right now.

Shouldn't that bear be underground?

The dry weather has bears pushed down into one of my yards. There is no more food up in the high forest.

Unless you put a bullet in that bear and turn it into a rug, or hang a few stands of hot wire, it will not go away and you can kiss your hive goodby.

If you do put up a hot wire, hang a little bacon on it. Bears can learn how to trash an E fence without gettin hit hard. Put a little treat on it so Yogi will lick that strand. You'll teach the bear to stay away.

Edit- I re read the OP. I see you have a fence. It's time to retest and bacon it.

OP and I are both in Wa, our bear seasons ended yesterday. The low temps have been in the teens and single digits for a week (e side), most of our bears are done for the year.

I am on the east side, if the op is coastal things could be different.

Update...

Been very busy. I'm in Western Wa, as in coastal influences for our weather,
but it has been unusually cold. Lows are in the upper teens.

Spoke with a wildlife agent, he said to place bacon on the top hot wire. He also said

that bears in our area really don't go into full hibernation due to mild temps and available food.

If I get another breach of the fence he will come out with a bear trap. I told him he is going to

catch lots of dogs...he got a good laugh out of that.

The bear is roughly on a one week schedule so far, and I am away on business...other side of the state.

I love Eastern Wa!

Someone else mentioned retesting your fence. I've spent way too many hours of my life searching for shorts on electric fences, but that is where I would start too. If you don't have a fence tester you need to get one. Also there was some mention of it being dry. If the ground is really dry it doesn't conduct well. You may need to redo your fence and alternate hot and ground wires.

See my latest update

I think i can help but it may not be pretty.

This method is used to keep bears out of camps via doors and windows.

This may not be cost effective if your perimeter around the hives is large.

Buy several sheets of 3/8" plywood, buy a large box of 2.5" dry wall screws. Screw in the screws in a grid like pattern every 1.5" across each of the entire boards. Lay them down around the perimeter and stake them down so the bear cant lift them up. Only some bears are smart enuf. Sounds like you have a Yogi so he may be a brain.
I have seen where some very dumb bears attempt to walk across those boards, and leave a little blood and hair on the boards as proof. It wont cause them massive trauma but will hurt good and they wont walk across it again.

Everybody lives and no one gets hurt ( not too bad anyway )

Melt some cappings and dump some honey onto a pillow case. Hang the pillow case, sit out, and poison the bear with some heavy metal.

Sorry the season is closed and baiting is outlawed...

Do you file a schedule F form to the IRS for your taxes on your bees? In Ca bees are livestock. I won't bait here, as it's also not legal. I thought you could up there. Losing a yard of 8 100 hives with 8 frames of bees is worth $35,000 come January, and $16,000 just for almonds. I've seen it happen in one night from one bear.

How many hives do you have left to lose? Call your county apiculturist and see what they say about what you've got going on.

Thanks for the info...

This is hobby stuff venturing on business. We are unofficial bee keepers

with a dozen hives. Last year we go 50 gallons out of 11 hives.

I've got 3 hives left he has just one. We'll see what happens tonight.

I you are thinking of going into a real business in the future, you need to call it a business now, and file a schedule F form this year. Write off all of your wood, frames, queens, packages, feed (sugar, protein), feeders, all honey equipment, hotwire fencing, fuel involved directly in caring for your bees and other expenses. Continue to write off your expenses as you grow and report your income.

Talk to your tax guy on it now. For the first few years you for sure will get a tax return on the business with your expenses being higher than any income. Pending if you are selling your honey, or making money on pollinating, you'll start breaking even eventually (without paying yourself). When you are sidelining 150-400 hives, you can start paying yourself... And you can kiss your sanity goodby. Lol.

Bump for 12/6 update...

in for pictures of the bears

I would love to post pics, but I'm gonna need a tutor...

Any offers?

how to post photos

12GA slugs for bears. I treat bears breaking into and stealing my stuff the same as I would an aspiring rap artist.

In the beekeeping class I took in MN, they told us if bears get into the hives you need to relocate them. They will tear through whatever if they know there is honey to be had.

Bump for 12/8 update...

no photos? OP you can email to me and I'll post them for you if you like.