Winnie the Pooh is in town...

[dug_6238]

We woke up Saturday morning to my 8-yr-old son running up the stairs crying, saying "A bear got into my hive. The hive's down..."

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z219/dug_6238/Bees%202008/100_2032.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z219/dug_6238/Bees%202008/100_2029.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z219/dug_6238/Bees%202008/100_2033.jpg


We had a few small surviving clusters of bees, maybe a few small patches of brood that were left, and we were able to find the queen in one of the clusters. We've cleaned up, salvaged what we could, added a fence, will add a split from another hive next weekend, and we're ready for him to come back now.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z219/dug_6238/Bees%202008/100_2038.jpg

[xC0000005]

I say get a gun and make sure he's a bear of very little brain.

[Walliebee]

Hated to see those pics! Thats a tough way for you son to learn about bears, but highly effective at the same time.

How hard was it to track down a trap? Is it private, or wildlife service?

[dug_6238]

...How hard was it to track down a trap? Is it private, or wildlife service?

PA Game Commission had in there in under 3 hours, but I think it's possible that it was already on its way to our town. Several other people got hit, including feeders at a couple different folks' houses in town. One was a Game Officer's house. My place is probably the best bait in town, although the doughnuts and icing they put inside the trap may pull in our contracted police force from the neighboring town. :D

I'm honestly going to give the PA Game commission a good grade for response. They're doing what they can. Their hands are tied in a lot of ways. They are doing their best to help out.

[Jas0n Bresson]

Wow that realy stinks. I started 7 hives in a questionable area so I'm holding my breath. I have an awsome private location where I am going to put hives next year but I have to save my pennies for a fencing system. There is a camper at this site that got broken into by a black bear over the weekend so I want to make sure I'm bullet proof for next year. Good luck in the future. Let us know if he returns and how the fence works.

[tileguy]

Was the electric fence around the hive that got hit? Sorry to see that happen to you and your family.
T.G.

[dug_6238]

No fence here before, but it went up immediately afterward. Should have had it in the first place. We thought "No way we'll get hit right here in the middle of town, with all these people around". What a nuisance though. Our beehives, the game officer's bird and wildlife feeders, then the neighbor's birdfeeder, then the other neighbor's garbage cans, all over the course of a couple of nights now.

Our other site should be safe - it has our new home-fencer's solar-powered cousin. (The top black one...ignore the grey one - it isn't so hot.)

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z219/dug_6238/Bees%202008/100_1945.jpg

I've tested them both with a hand on the ground/dirt and the other on the fence. I'm confident in their ability. I was worried about this one here at the house with the rain we're getting. Yeouch - still hot regardless.

[allrawpaul]

great pics, sorry about the bear! Please post pics of the captured bear!

[BjornBee]

Glad you did two things correctly. One was get the bear out alive, and the other to put up a fence. Thank you. ;)

[macro junkie]

did u catch the bear>?

[Eyeshooter]

You may want to bait the fence. It's a nice appetizer before the bear goes for the main course. My fence came with instructions. I've hung pieces of semi-cooked bacon and wrapped pieces of aluminum foil on the wires covered with peanut butter and pressed into bird seed. Better to have the bear stop for a snack and get a jolt than have it decide it wants the hives regardless. Naturally, now that we bring the feeders in at night the bear hasn't come back.

[John Smith]

Sorry about the bear and all the damage.

Beekeeping is not about how many times you get knocked down, it is about how many times you can get back up!

BUT IT IS WORTH IT!

Good luck!

John