Had to get my bear license

[Bwar77]

Hives.jpg

it happened.... after 2 failed attempts in the past month, finally got through the solar electric fence, ripped off the ratchet straps and destroyed 2 of 3 hives...... the 2 previous times all the bear was able to do was slightly spin one super of the hive. It also pawed at the electric wire, to get in I guess, and was greeted with a shock, you could tell one of the electric wires was streched down a bit. But not this time. Both the NUCS I purchased this year were destroyed, luckily the highly productive swarm hive was left untouched. Relocted the surviving hive to the roof of a large shed right next to the house. So, went out, bought my bear license and sighted in my rifle. I'm an avid hunter, but never had a desire to harvest a bear. I bear hunt everyyear with a group just so I dont have to go to work, but this year may be different! But back to the drawing board for next year. I live in a highly populated bear area. Gotta get a plan. And hopefully catch a few swarms, those NUCS weren't cheap!

[RayMarler]

I'm guessing you don't want to become a permanent rooftop beekeeper? It might be the cheapest way to beat the bears.

[BeeTech]

Or, you could up the power on the fence. Are you allowed to take a bear 'electrically'?

[waynesgarden]

Or, you could up the power on the fence...

A fence that would kill a bear would kill a child that wandered into the yard.

Wayne

[Acebird]

How high up does the hive have to be in order to be outside the reach of a bear?

[Maryland Beekeeper]

Sorry to c that. Black bears are pretty good climbers, sure that roof is out of danger ? They should be back for more. Saw bear proof'ed hives somewhere but I can't remember where. They had built chain link dog run w/roof around hives. Course next year u can just drape bearskin over hive to scare others away.
Happy hunting,
Drew
p.s. Bear steaks ! yummy ! And I think its the gall bladder is worth a small fortune, might be illegal to sell, check w/ warden. Might pay for your nukes and then some.

[BigGun]

Fence was too close to hives.

[Andrew Dewey]

I wrapped a bunch of hives today and was wearing my new Sheriff orange jacket so I wouldn't be mistook for a bear! It was a bummer to see light snow even though it melted as soon as it hit the ground.

[Bear Creek Steve]

P1050871.jpgBwar77,

I am sorry to see your losses, but there is a workable solution. My first suggestion is to do a search here on beesource for "bear fence" and "elecrrical bear fence". This subject is often discusses and there are lots of good ideas here.

I have lots of bees and bears, but not a trailer. Here is what I would suggest: Your corner posts look flimsey and may have to be beefed up first. Get some PVC pipe of a large enough ID that will slip over your corner posts - this is insulation for the "hot" side of your fence. Get some cattle panels from your local farm and rance supply store. These are normally 55 inches high and 16 feet long and are made of 1/4 inch rod welded together into a 6 X 8 inch grid. Cut the panels to fit between your corner posts and attach to the PVC with either hose clamps or wire, making certain that they do not touch anything but the PVC pipe. Once they are electrically wired together and connected to your solar charger this becomes the "hot" side of the fence.

Drive a very good ground rod or two near your charger and connect the charger to it. Lay 3-4 foot wide chicken wire on the ground around all three sides of your trailer and up over the yoke of your trailer. You may have to use landscape staples to hole the chicken wire down to the ground. Electrically connect every piece of chicken wire (solder if necessary) and electrically wire this to the good ground rod.

If assembled correctly, this system requires that the bear stand on the good ground (the chicken wire) while touching the "hot" side of your electrical bear fence (the cattle panels.) You can design a gate for your easy access across the back of the trailer if you wish.

If I am successful in attaching a picture it will show my bee yard with a similar system but with a sheet metal wire apron "ground" rather than a chicken wire ground. My system is going on five years without being breached. Good luck to you with whatever you do.

Steve

[Russ]

I think that I have read somewhere that if you drape Bacon over the fence, the bears will try to eat it and there by get a shock. Might be worth trying along with the cattle panels and chicken wire. Good luck keeping the bears out of your bees.

[Bear Creek Steve]

Russ,

Have not had to go to that extent yet. But bacon wrapped in aluminum floil gives 110%.

Steve

[cerezha]

Not about bears.
My friends have a pond with coy-fish and racoons had a few dinners in the pond. My friend installed the electric fence and decided to video-record how electric fence will deter the racoons. Sooo, he got a pretty vivid video-recording of his wife being electrocuted AND racoons watching the show with great pleasure. Since friend's wife destroyed flimsy fence when electrocuted and my friend turned electricity off to rescue the wife, racoons had a dinner when show was over ... Actually, this was repeated a few times. The conclusion - humans do not learn, but racoons do!

[WildernessWill]

It is very illegal to sell any part of a game animal. The nation's wildlife is for sporthunters enjoyment not profit. Bear is very tasty, I shot my first one This year and ground the entire animal. Best sausage ever! My tag in Ca was only $40 and I got over 100 lbs of finished product. You might not need a tag since the bears are messing with livestock. Talk to your local game warden about depreadation permits.

[Bwar77]

BigGun - that was one of my concerns... I'm a new beekeeper, so this is a learning process. Never dealt with electric fence before, but i was worried it was too close.

[Bwar77]

Bear Creek Steve - thanks that the instructions/plan and pic, may have to rig something like that. I'll be out in Colorado Springs for work in March I believe. Nice out there

[Bwar77]

The fence charger I have is a Kencove, it's their recommended solar fence charger for bears. I would love to get a stronger fence, but I don't think I could go larger with solar. And at this time I'm unable to get electric to this location

[beedeetee]

I use the same solar charger as Bear Creek Steve and so far it has stopped the bears. I pegs all of my testers.

[Acebird]

I don't think I could go larger with solar.

I wouldn't think the physical size of the fence would matter to the charger unless you are trying to secure many acres.

[Solomon Parker]

I have found most 'solar chargers' to be rather low powered.

What you need if you want more power is a battery powered charger (I have seen them at 6 joules) a battery, and a decent sized solar panel with a charge controller.

Downside: It's going to be much more expensive, but hives aren't cheap either.

Another tip: A net, like a poultry net, electrified will do much better than a wire. A bear (or any other animal) can get their head through the wire and the shock won't be so effective on their neck or shoulder. A net gets them on the nose or mouth, therefore much more effective. It sure works on the neighbors dogs and neighborhood coyotes.

[Acebird]

I am asking ... Doesn't a solar charger just charge a battery?