[brac]

So I just rehab'edan old 4 wheel farm trailer (think hay wagon). I am told there may be bears in the area, so I ordered a 10kv battery powered fence charger. I am gonna put 10 or 12 hives on it for ease of movement. My deck is 12' x 7' and I plan to set the hives back from the edge about 6". My thought is to attach the fence to the trailer, with a slanted corner post on each corner. Is this a bad idea for some reason? Also how many wires should I put and how far apart?

 

[dirtfarmer]

Remember that electric fences require a good driven earth ground rod. You'll need to drive a new rod each time the trailer is relocated.

 

[Beeslave]

Ground rods are not required if the fence has gound wires but it helps.

Since you will have the hives so close to the edge that a bear could reach in and grab them I would space the wires 6"-8" apart. Start with the bottom wire hot, then the next ground, then hot and keep alternating. End with a hot wire on top. 5 hot and 4 ground should be plenty. Use fiberglass posts. 3/4" for the corners and 3/8" for the rest. Use the ribbon fencing. It is easy to repair, light weight and effective. You could drill holes into the trailer platform for mounting the fence posts. When you move the trailer/wagon the posts will pull right out so you are not to wide with your load.

 

[power napper]

Perhaps you could use livestock panels for the fencing, the panels work really well for bear fencing on small permanent yards. I have seen the panels attatched to the posts on fiberglass insulators. Ag stores handle them around here, I think that they are four feet tall with twelve foot lengths and various different spacings are available.
If I ever get around to it my old camper trailer frame will be made a bee trailer using the panels to protect my hives sitting on the trailer.

 

[brac]

My first thought was to put the fence several feet away from the trailer, but I was told any weeds touching the wire will really shorten the battery life.

I like the idea of the fiberglas just sitting in a hole. Of course I still need to get a battery, it will take 6,9, or 12 volt but I was just thinking car battery, deep cycle hopefully.

 

[Beeslave]

Round up takes care of the weeds around the fence. Get a solar powered energizer with a battery pack. $150.00 gets you a good one. A bear will do more damage than the cost of a good fencing system.

 

[dirtfarmer]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I really think running without a ground rod stands a strong chance of doiing damage to the electric fence box. I think extremely dry conditions causing poor grounding has caused damage to my boxes. I run extremely hot boxes over very long runs. You might be able to get away with it with smaller weaker boxes.

 

[brac]

I will be putting in a ground rod, I wasn't aware you could go without. The thing I am still unsure of is about the fence only be 2 feet from the hives.

 

[MikeJ]

It won't hurt the bees but you may not like it if you forget to turn it off.
Without a grounding rod you will need to stagger hot and neutral fence wires so the animal can make contact with both if they attempt to get in. I have heard it isn't as good since the shock travels only through the body that is between the two wires - unlike grounding rods in which it travels through to the ground (legs) giving a larger area of feeling the jolt.

You may find driving 1 rod, 2' into the ground next to the trailer will do fine since the area being covered is only there at the trailer. It is not like pasture fencing in which the grounding rods need to be able to cover many acres.

Just an idea but what it you had corner posts that hinged so while traveling they were vertical and when setup the are horizontal. I would think this should work (maybe better then normal fencing position) since the trailer is elevated meaning the bear will have to climb onto it. With the fence running horizontal it has to try to crawle up between the strands or push through them all. Also this would give you easier access since the fencing won't be right up against you.

Mike

 

[Beeslave]

2 ft is better than the 6 in you originally stated. If the wires are spaced close together the bear is not going to get his paws between them without getting zapped.