Will Swarm traps be demolished by bears?

1688 Views 6 Replies 6 Participants Last post by shannonswyatt, Mar 21, 2014

virginiawolf

Discussion Starter · Mar 20, 2014

Will Swarm traps be demolished by bears? I will be putting them in bear country. Is there any technique to keep the bears from ripping them down beside the common recommendation to shoot the bear or use electric fence?

Any ideas especially from people that have had bears tear the traps down or thwarted that would be great to hear about.

Thank You,
Jeff

Here's where I want to put them.

Tree Forest Woodland Natural landscape Natural environment

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PAHunter62

· #2 · Mar 20, 2014

I have had many traps up in bear country and have not had them mess with traps yet. Mine have been about 10 feet off the ground. I have left caught bees in the trap for up to 4 weeks and did not have any problems. Only two years experience so far though with traps in bear territory.

PAHunter

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johnbeejohn

· #3 · Mar 20, 2014

if it is able to reach it and has smelled a bee hive before u better bet he would take the few seconds to rip it apart to look for brood if the smell is there

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Tenbears

· #4 · Mar 20, 2014

It is all a roll of the dice, you pays your money and you take your chances! I have had traps locations that have gone for years unmolested to spite Obvious bear activity, and other that suddenly become the target of bears and from that day on I have not been able to put traps there. I think John is right that if a bear has learned the smell of a hive = nutritious easy food they will go to great length to get it when they smell it.

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jredburn

· #5 · Mar 20, 2014

Virginia,
I have had it esplained to me by a very smart fellow that bears are not after the honey so much as they are after the larve. Since a swarm does not have any brood for awhile you should be OK.
If you wish to keep bees in bear country without a gun or fence, suspend a box from a rope that is strung between two trees. Pull it high enough that you can just barely touch the bottom of the box. You will have to let the box down to work the bees and the box can get very heavy when you are trying to pull it back up in the air.

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virginiawolf

Discussion Starter · #6 · Mar 21, 2014 (Edited)

Thank You for the responses. I suppose it could end up like pac man where the bears just hammer them or it might just be alright. The part about not having the brood comb that the bears want makes sense. My actual hives will be raised on a platform that will hopefully prove to be bear proof but that will have to be tested in action. In the mean time with this long awaited spring I got to thinking that setting some swarm traps will be necessary and could lead to some awesome swarms being trapped here soon. It dawned on me about the bears though so I figured that I would ask. I have been reading about bears and watching videos of their behavior so I could understand how they climb and things. My wife found me an article about how the Turkish beekeepers avoid bear problems and it involved either platforms or like a bee barn that is raised up so that bears can't gain access. It has been very educational and will be interesting to see what happens this year. I will share some photos of black bears when they come

Thank you for your help so far!!
Here is one of the first articles that gave me some hope that I could keep bees in bear country.

http://turkishtravelblog.com/beekeeping-beekeeper-honey/

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shannonswyatt

· #7 · Mar 21, 2014

I had a bear take one of mine down. Really cool claw marks on the top of the trap. But I had it tied to the tree as well and I think when it came down it must have swing and hit the bear, since it didn't tear it apart afterwards. It did a number on the stand I had it sitting on though.

There was a single frame of old brood comb in the trap. No honey or what not.

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