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The bear strikes again

4440 Views 45 Replies 20 Participants Last post by  FlowerPlanter
Well this is twice I have been hit by a bear. This time he got 2 of my hives and now it is POURING RAIN.:eek: I guess I will see what is left of the girls when it stops pouring. I have a hankering for some bear. Electric fence failed and now to go heavy duty on the joules. if he/she would have asked me nicely I would have given him/her some honey.:cool:
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Some states you can file a claim for bear damage through the State Fish and Game Office. You can also request they remove the bear for you or you can get a permit to shoot it. Just some possible options. Once the bear gets through an electrical fence it does not offer as good of a deterrent unless you have a lot of joules.
Well, so much for my wife's theory that the bear is not much interested in raiding human food sources this time of the year.

We've got exceptional protection on the hives (3J electric fence around a high and strong mechanical fence), but she had not seen so much bear activity in the compost heap the last month or so.

Snout Organism Medical imaging Medical radiography Photo caption
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Oh yea I'm going heavy duty joules. If I have to I'm going straight 110 volts. Sizzle sizzle smoke. Thanks MTN-Bees for the other info. Part of it I knew.
Some states you can file a claim for bear damage through the State Fish and Game Office. You can also request they remove the bear for you or you can get a permit to shoot it. Just some possible options. Once the bear gets through an electrical fence it does not offer as good of a deterrent unless you have a lot of joules.
Look into this.

110 volts? are you kidding me?
You may be very surprised at how many of the girls survive even with the rain. This very same thing happened to me in the early spring. I used my bee vac when the rain finally stopped and sucked even the bees I thought couldn't possibly be alive. while it was still raining I covered them up with tarps and hive parts to help them survive the wet weather, and as soon as it stopped raining I got out there and got them inside the hive. Lots and lots pulled through and the hive survived.
Dad&Son,

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate experience. You might be able to pick up some ideas from my post number 25 of about five years ago at : http://www.beesource.com/forums/sho...rce.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?240-Bee-Forum

I live in a very arid environment and this the ground plane (sheet metal) is all copper wired and soldered together and attached to an 8 foot ground rod. (On an outyard in the mountains I use four foot wide chicken wire attached to the ground rod as the ground plane.) Have as many as five different bears cruse through here annually. Had a ma ma bear with three cubs allow them to have the "experience" this spring. They will not be back and I've never had a problem with 10+ colonies. Build it right the first time!

Steve
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Acebird, a man gotta do what a man gotta do. If it comes down to 110 then it's 110.
Thanks Bear Creek Steve I'll keep that in mind.
I went out during a small window of sunlight and checked them out and put them all back on the hive stand and so far so good the majority of them survived the torrential down pour. Time will tell but they look good for now.
If 50,000 volts won't detour them what makes you think 110 will. Giving them honey will not stop them either, most of the time they prefer the brood. I was walking a wood lot with a gent as I crested the hill I could smell honey. I said honey near by, to which he responded My neighbor has bees over there. If I could smell them surely a bear with a sense of smell 50 times grater can. A stout fence with a good fencer that knocks them on their but the first time is the only answer.
I said the honey remark as a joke Tenbears. And yes with 110 volts with peanut butter on tin foil attached to the fence wire will give them a good jolt. A bear senses with his nose and will lick most any thing it smells that smells good. I used to be a nuisance trapper. But you have to place the foil tags about every 2 feet. It works.
Acebird, a man gotta do what a man gotta do. If it comes down to 110 then it's 110.
And if that man happens to kill a child to protect his hives? That's what a man in Texas did when he strung his yard with electric fence and tied it into a 20a, 110 house circuit. A 6 year old fell against it and died instantly.

Anyone who thinks this is a good idea should rethink it. This is an idea that can kill. The only uncertainty is whether you will be charged with criminal negligence or homicide.

http://www.kltv.com/story/9596894/6-year-old-girl-electrocuted-on-fence

Wayne
I said the honey remark as a joke Tenbears. And yes with 110 volts with peanut butter on tin foil attached to the fence wire will give them a good jolt. A bear senses with his nose and will lick most any thing it smells that smells good. I used to be a nuisance trapper. But you have to place the foil tags about every 2 feet. It works.
If a bear bites a 110V fence you may well have to drag off several hundred pounds of dead bear. But a bear could lean up against such a fence and not feel a thing because thick fur is a good insulator. Meanwhile, as pointed out by others, a human doing the same thing would likely be killed.

Use a good low-impedance fence energizer with some punch behind it, and then don't bother with the bait.

I have not seen anyone rig a 110 V fence (plugged straight into an outlet) since the 1960's. I hear about it, but it is a *******-dumb thing to try. If you have an outlet available, invest in a good fence energizer and several good ground rods. It will work better and may save you a lawsuit and prison term.
First of all there are no children around where this would be. I appreciate your concern. On the same note I have seen with my own two eyes a child die from coming in contact with an electric fence. One that would keep cattle in. I have also seen a man get electrocuted by while installing an electric fence, lightning struck the fence further down the line and got him. I know what you are saying.
And if that man happens to kill a child to protect his hives? That's what a man in Texas did when he strung his yard with electric fence and tied it into a 20a, 110 house circuit. A 6 year old fell against it and died instantly.

Anyone who thinks this is a good idea should rethink it. This is an idea that can kill. The only uncertainty is whether you will be charged with criminal negligence or homicide.

http://www.kltv.com/story/9596894/6-year-old-girl-electrocuted-on-fence

Wayne
If a bear bites a 110V fence you may well have to drag off several hundred pounds of dead bear. But a bear could lean up against such a fence and not feel a thing because thick fur is a good insulator. Meanwhile, as pointed out by others, a human doing the same thing would likely be killed.

Use a good low-impedance fence energizer with some punch behind it, and then don't bother with the bait.

I have not seen anyone rig a 110 V fence (plugged straight into an outlet) since the 1960's. I hear about it, but it is a *******-dumb thing to try. If you have an outlet available, invest in a good fence energizer and several good ground rods. It will work better and may save you a lawsuit and prison term.
You really need to look up the true definition of *******. It us something to be proud of.
My apologies to the hard-working farmers with sunburned necks. There's also the tale about miners with their red bandanas, but poor white farmers were ******** long before miners appropriated the term.

I'm using the Jeff Foxworthy definition. You might be a ******* if you think a 120 VAC outlet makes a dandy fence energizer. You might also be a ******* if you're so far down the grid that you only get 110 V out of a 120 V outlet.

I'm in training to become a Mountaineer (been working on it since 1983, maybe a few more years will get me that honor), but I durned-well refuse to become a *******.
Well in was born and raised a ******* and am PROUD OF IT! IT was the so called ******** that built this country. It is the ******** that keep the food on your plate and this country going by there hard work and love for America.
My apologies to the hard-working farmers with sunburned necks. There's also the tale about miners with their red bandanas, but poor white farmers were ******** long before miners appropriated the term.

I'm using the Jeff Foxworthy definition. You might be a ******* if you think a 120 VAC outlet makes a dandy fence energizer. You might also be a ******* if you're so far down the grid that you only get 110 V out of a 120 V outlet.

I'm in training to become a Mountaineer (been working on it since 1983, maybe a few more years will get me that honor), but I durned-well refuse to become a *******.
Forget the 120 volts. 25,000 volts burns through a lot more fur.
If you want to keep bears out of the yard, take a couple of cans of sardines, punch a hole through the middle and run a bare wire through the can, tie it onto one of the electric hot wires. The bear can sell it from a long way away and will come to it. , When the bear bites the can, he gets a shock inside the mouth and once is enough.
Put something on the fence wires so the bear can associate the markers with the shock. I use aluminium duct tape and small rings of PVC 1-1/2" pipe. Cut the rings and then split them so the can be slipped over the wire.
Oh, the bears are not really after the honey, they eat the larva. They will attack a colony even if it does not have honey in it.
Sadly, the food on my plate comes largely from corporate farms. When possible we buy local, but most tractors these days have air conditioned cabs and farmers don't have red necks these days. Unfortunately, today, ******** exist as bad stereotypes in country songs, and I'm more likely to be listening to the really old stuff on WVSB, Romney, WV, from back when Country wasn't cool.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WVSB

My old Ford 1300 is a noble exception to tractors with cabs.
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