My apiary setup with wind barrier, high voltage fence, motion detect & hive heaters.
View it on YouTube...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlDN1Qo4OUc
View it on YouTube...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlDN1Qo4OUc
My apiary setup with wind barrier, high voltage fence, motion detect & hive heaters.
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Re: My apiary setup with wind barrier, high voltage fence, motion detect & hive heate
hang bacon on the electric fence with toothpicks, without it bears will and can knock down the fence with out getting a jolt. The bacon will teach them a lesson real quick when they go for a lick. Also, i personally would be worried about a bear pulling the door open. Very clean setup.
hang bacon on the electric fence with toothpicks, without it bears will and can knock down the fence with out getting a jolt. The bacon will teach them a lesson real quick when they go for a lick. Also, i personally would be worried about a bear pulling the door open. Very clean setup.
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Re: My apiary setup with wind barrier, high voltage fence, motion detect & hive heate
Hard Core
, the things we do for our bees. I am not a fan of the bacon idea on my fences. A smart determined bear, may figure out the non jolting door entry however.
Hard Core
, the things we do for our bees. I am not a fan of the bacon idea on my fences. A smart determined bear, may figure out the non jolting door entry however.Re: My apiary setup with wind barrier, high voltage fence, motion detect & hive heate
I believe bacon on the fence is necessary. the bear needs a shock before starting in the fence. If he is part way in and gets a shock he will jump head and now's he's in. bacon is standard procedure. they have a thick coat of hair and the nose or mouth will get attention.
I believe bacon on the fence is necessary. the bear needs a shock before starting in the fence. If he is part way in and gets a shock he will jump head and now's he's in. bacon is standard procedure. they have a thick coat of hair and the nose or mouth will get attention.
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Re: My apiary setup with wind barrier, high voltage fence, motion detect & hive heate
Bacon is always a standard procedure.
But seriously, what are you doing/not doing that's killing all your bees? Loosing that many doesn't require a bomb shelter.
You have mite issues? Feeding? Heating isn't recommend.
Bacon is always a standard procedure.
But seriously, what are you doing/not doing that's killing all your bees? Loosing that many doesn't require a bomb shelter.
You have mite issues? Feeding? Heating isn't recommend.
Re: My apiary setup with wind barrier, high voltage fence, motion detect & hive heate
Certainly gone to a lot of effort and good workmanship. You need to figure out why your hives are dying it. Is it mites, running out of food, insufficient bees to form a adequate sized cluster, poor ventilation and moisture overhead or too much humidity in the hive, disease such as nosema????
I think 43F at the bottom is too high. Think it is the outside of the cluster you want at 43F. Have you or can you measure the temp higher in the hive? As warm air rises, it is likely warmer than 43F higher in the hive.
Trust you have insulated overhead and quilt boxes work very well.
Certainly gone to a lot of effort and good workmanship. You need to figure out why your hives are dying it. Is it mites, running out of food, insufficient bees to form a adequate sized cluster, poor ventilation and moisture overhead or too much humidity in the hive, disease such as nosema????
I think 43F at the bottom is too high. Think it is the outside of the cluster you want at 43F. Have you or can you measure the temp higher in the hive? As warm air rises, it is likely warmer than 43F higher in the hive.
Trust you have insulated overhead and quilt boxes work very well.
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Re: My apiary setup with wind barrier, high voltage fence, motion detect & hive heate
I think I would set the temp much lower than that. I would set it closer to 0 to 20F .
I think I would set the temp much lower than that. I would set it closer to 0 to 20F .
Re: My apiary setup with wind barrier, high voltage fence, motion detect & hive heate
Stores consumption is minimized at 40F outside ambient temp. See post #11 in following link to thread
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?304642-Bees-Only-Heat-the-Cluster-Not-the-Hive
Stores consumption is minimized at 40F outside ambient temp. See post #11 in following link to thread
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?304642-Bees-Only-Heat-the-Cluster-Not-the-Hive
Re: My apiary setup with wind barrier, high voltage fence, motion detect & hive heate
Great video. Thanks. A few observations:
I've had serious bear problems and have evolved to what seems now to be a successful fence. Yours should work fine, from what I see. The spacing of your wires, looks like about 4 inches, is close enough that you don't need bacon, in my view. The idea is for the bear to touch his nose or tongue on the wire. I think it would be hard for that big bear to get his head between the wires without getting a buzz. I don't know if your gravel is an ideal surface to conduct electricity though. The combination that works for me is closely spaced wires and a strong electricity source. Looks like you have that.
For heating hives, I've used the electric heating cable with thermostat attached that you can buy at Home Depot, etc, commonly used for heating water pipes over the winter so they don't freeze. Check it out, probably less money and work involved for same result.
Looks like you have a nice setup....but it seems to me you are pressing your luck with a swimming pool that close!
Great video. Thanks. A few observations:
I've had serious bear problems and have evolved to what seems now to be a successful fence. Yours should work fine, from what I see. The spacing of your wires, looks like about 4 inches, is close enough that you don't need bacon, in my view. The idea is for the bear to touch his nose or tongue on the wire. I think it would be hard for that big bear to get his head between the wires without getting a buzz. I don't know if your gravel is an ideal surface to conduct electricity though. The combination that works for me is closely spaced wires and a strong electricity source. Looks like you have that.
For heating hives, I've used the electric heating cable with thermostat attached that you can buy at Home Depot, etc, commonly used for heating water pipes over the winter so they don't freeze. Check it out, probably less money and work involved for same result.
Looks like you have a nice setup....but it seems to me you are pressing your luck with a swimming pool that close!
Re: My apiary setup with wind barrier, high voltage fence, motion detect & hive heate
I did alternate the high voltage and ground wires so that if a bear pushes its head in between the wires, it will help to ensure that it receives a good shock. The loud siren is activated by motion and I don’t think the bear would even bother hanging around with all that noise. Now that I’m satisfied with their protection, I will be focusing on researching the possibilities (mites & diseases) as to why I’ve had substantial losses over the last 4 years. I want to be a successful beekeeper.
I know the hives have good numbers, insulation, ventilation and plenty of stores. I don’t want to set the temperature to below freezing as I believe this would defeat the purpose of supplemental heating. I plan to keep it around 40 F degrees. I also have separate temperature probe at the upper frames as to do a comparison with the bottom sensor. This will help me choose the proper setting. I need to wait for colder outside temperatures to make a better assessment.
I did alternate the high voltage and ground wires so that if a bear pushes its head in between the wires, it will help to ensure that it receives a good shock. The loud siren is activated by motion and I don’t think the bear would even bother hanging around with all that noise. Now that I’m satisfied with their protection, I will be focusing on researching the possibilities (mites & diseases) as to why I’ve had substantial losses over the last 4 years. I want to be a successful beekeeper.
I know the hives have good numbers, insulation, ventilation and plenty of stores. I don’t want to set the temperature to below freezing as I believe this would defeat the purpose of supplemental heating. I plan to keep it around 40 F degrees. I also have separate temperature probe at the upper frames as to do a comparison with the bottom sensor. This will help me choose the proper setting. I need to wait for colder outside temperatures to make a better assessment.
Re: My apiary setup with wind barrier, high voltage fence, motion detect & hive heate
Wholly schnykies, that's a whole lot of work and $ for 5 hives. It doesn't require all that but if it works for you great!
If you've got SHB's though the shed you've built them is going to create challenges especially with the roof. From the experiences I've had, hives in shade seem to be magnates for SHB's. I moved my hives into full sun and my SHB issues all but disappeared.
Wholly schnykies, that's a whole lot of work and $ for 5 hives. It doesn't require all that but if it works for you great!
If you've got SHB's though the shed you've built them is going to create challenges especially with the roof. From the experiences I've had, hives in shade seem to be magnates for SHB's. I moved my hives into full sun and my SHB issues all but disappeared.
Re: My apiary setup with wind barrier, high voltage fence, motion detect & hive heate
I also agree with others that the temp control system may be disguising other more significant issues. I'm not saying get rid of it, but make sure your bees are healthy too. Nice job facing these challenges!
Good luck.
That was my thought too. I'd make that door entry more secure.
I also agree with others that the temp control system may be disguising other more significant issues. I'm not saying get rid of it, but make sure your bees are healthy too. Nice job facing these challenges!
Good luck.
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Re: My apiary setup with wind barrier, high voltage fence, motion detect & hive heate
Heck, you should see Fort Bee up at our place, and that was for 2-3 hives. 4x4 posts on about 4' centers, 7 ft high, with remesh for fencing, and a 3 joule line-powered electric fence charger running tapes outside of that. As the fencing is grounded, it packs a huge jolt. No need to attract bears with bacon if you have a strong enough charger, and the mesh fence alone is sufficient to stop our local black bears. (This is the standard cage for garbage cans here, and the first place I saw a remesh fence was a tiger cage).
The high fence frame provides support for a lever to lift the hives for weighing, and we can rig it as a windbreak by adding a tarp or two.
This month's project is expanding it ... it was too small.
Economical? Heck no. This is just what happens when you have a tinkerer going nuts while waiting for spring and their first nucs, or bored silly in the off season. This is harmless, if somewhat expensive, fun.
Heck, you should see Fort Bee up at our place, and that was for 2-3 hives. 4x4 posts on about 4' centers, 7 ft high, with remesh for fencing, and a 3 joule line-powered electric fence charger running tapes outside of that. As the fencing is grounded, it packs a huge jolt. No need to attract bears with bacon if you have a strong enough charger, and the mesh fence alone is sufficient to stop our local black bears. (This is the standard cage for garbage cans here, and the first place I saw a remesh fence was a tiger cage).
The high fence frame provides support for a lever to lift the hives for weighing, and we can rig it as a windbreak by adding a tarp or two.
This month's project is expanding it ... it was too small.
Economical? Heck no. This is just what happens when you have a tinkerer going nuts while waiting for spring and their first nucs, or bored silly in the off season. This is harmless, if somewhat expensive, fun.
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