# Hit by a Bear



## DUKPT (Apr 8, 2011)

I live in Big Bear Country. Next to a Lake and in-between to Large Ponds.
I've been keeping for Five seasons without even a sighting.
The only thing that was different this year? Three of my Hives made it through the Winter.
Hive # 1 was showing the most movement, I am guessing this was the Hive with the Most honey.
Black Bears are pretty Smart. He removed a Top Honey Super on Monday. He pulled out two frames. He munched away while leaving the rest untouched.
(Spooked) ? Yep...
I put the Hive back together. 
The next night? I went about to observe and keep an eye on the hives. Yes,, every hour on the hour via the the windows from my home.
At 10;15 he came back. I was able to get a glimpse of him or her. What a FAT BOOTY!
Man, I grabbed my Flashlight and went out at Bad Bear. I was about 20' away when he spotted me. " He said to himself " Heck,, Disturbed again.. It must have took his Fat behind fifteen seconds to Waddle that Booty 10' back into the thick Woods. OMG What a Big Bear....
He had taken off two Honey Supers and one Broad Super.
Mr Bear laid the Honey Supers on my Hive Platform Sideways standing up.
I watched for about an hour, then went back to bed.
SOB.. The next morning I looked out. Sure enough, he came back to do his Dirty.
He picked up the Supers he had placed down sideways on my Hive Platform.
My other two hives? (Completely Untouched).
Here is my Question. He destroyed and broke up most of the Supers for the Strongest 1st Hive.
He left two Supers from that Hive, pretty much alone.. "Broad". 
I put these two broad supers in front of the 2nd hive, they were full of Mad bees.
For the Past three nights,, the Middle hive is Bearding up like Crazy.
All night long.. They are covering the face of two-three full supers.
What is going on?
Nighttime temperatures are chilly. Mid - 50's. Not Hot and humid at all. (They cannot be trying to cool off) 
Why are they Bearding at night? It's Cold.. Are they preparing to Swarm.... Did they lose their Queen during this Attack? " Confused "


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## HillBilly2 (Jul 26, 2015)

First of all, get a fence. Electric. He has found this delicious food called honey. He will remember where he found it and return every time he gets hungry for years.

Sounds like all the mad bees in the destroyed supers marched into the second hive. Look in it, if it has too many bees you need to add a brood box and frames, swap some frames around to give the cluster some room to avoid swarming. Or if that hive has enough eggs and larva do a split to reestablish the lost hive.

Get a fence. Two strands is sufficient, barely. One knee high, one waist high. Ground it good. Use hi tensile fence wire. Good insulators. Forget hanging bacon on it, just rub with a piece of salted side meat. scent will last all year.

Get a fence!


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## laketrout (Mar 5, 2013)

Cattle panels have worked out good for me , they are 5 ft hi by 16 ft long , hang them on 1 1/4 ' fibreglass posts and electrify the whole panel , put them 4'' off the ground and it will keep out skunks , the Pa game comm. has more info on it , if you need a link let me know .


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## laketrout (Mar 5, 2013)

Here is the whole story on the pa bear fence and where to get the posts http://www.kencove.com/fence/76_Bear+Fence_resource.php


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## DavidZ (Apr 9, 2016)

time to spend $500.00 on a fence.


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## DUKPT (Apr 8, 2011)

I hear you about the fence. I will have to wait and cross my fingers this season. He likes Honey so come September 1st I will leave him a bunch at the edge of my property. This, while waiting in my tree stand with my 7mm Magnum. This guy is close to trophy size. He's as big as my full size refrigerator not including his legs. He has to be pushing 300lbs. I want him in my Freezer.


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

that 7MM mag is better than the fence


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## deerslayer8153 (Mar 17, 2015)

7mm Mag, my kind of solution!

Probably still need a fence though!


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## DUKPT (Apr 8, 2011)

I can't believe how determined he was to come back and finish his job after being spooked twice. Then, how meticulous-neat he was at removing the Supers. I hadn't had a chance to do an inspection yet this year. Poor guy didn't have his hive tool with him. The bottoms of two supers were snapped. I can't use them again, he busted the wood separating the supers. Otherwise he didn't make much of a Mess. The other two hives next to the one he raided were not even tampered with. Less than a foot spacing between all three, along with all three sitting on the same platform/base. I guess a few bulls can work in a China Closet.


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## laketrout (Mar 5, 2013)

He will be back for the rest very soon !! once they find a food souce they don't leave untill it runs out .The problem with the 7mm is its not on duty 24/7 .


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## MTN-Bees (Jan 27, 2014)

Crossing your fingers isn't a strategy- the bear will be back until you do something about.


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

lake trout - don't have to be on duty 24/7 - just the right time 1 time


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## DUKPT (Apr 8, 2011)

I just met and spoke with an old time bee keeper who lives a few miles from me. I told him what had happened, what I did, and about the bees Bearding up on the center hive at night.

Funny; got to love living in the Country ((((Yep, them little girls R dun pissed off. They b Bearding up on the outside of that hive now. only B doing it during the night aye? Yep, They be upset that during the night is when they were attacked by Mr. Bear. They are raving mad now. Mad bout getting caught with their little skirts down. They all b gone at Sunrise? Yep, It's a show of force so if that Bear were to come back. Walk over to them girls during the night,,,I bet they be singing pretty dang loud to u )).


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## currier1 (Apr 14, 2013)

DUKPT, I feel your pain. 
Like you, I've had no issues since I started keeping bees 4 years ago...that is, until recently.

I was away for 10 days and returned home to find all three of my hives scattered across my apiary...lots of hardware damage. Worse than that my girls appear to be gone...just a few of them hanging around foraging on the remaining honey.

AND, I have an electric fence:
https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/premier-prs-100-solar-energizer-kit?cat_id=162
https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/bear-quikfence-12-35-12?cat_id=53

This wasn't the first attack this season...4 weeks before I left, he or she tipped over two of my hives and damaged a few pieces of hardware. I was able to put them back together (yes, the girls get VERY angry under those circumstances). Afterward, everything seemed fine.

Obviously, I wondered how the bear got past my fence. So I the first thing I checked after the first incident was the voltage output...tested at 8000V everywhere along the perimeter - low to high. From what I can tell, the bear simply stepped over/walked through the fence and wasn't the least bit deterred by the shocks...goes to prove, even a fence is no surefire prevention against bear pillages. The only improvement I’ll make is to introduce more posts so I have less sag in between. Either that or I scrap the current fence and go with wood posts and multiple wires...and taller.

The bear didn't eat all the honey and I managed to salvage a dozen or so frames. Given the late date in the season, I'm not going to attempt to re-populate. All I can do is clean up my gear and get it ready for 3 new packages next spring.

Bummer too, since this was the first year that I managed to have 2 of the 3 hives make it through the winter...and my harvest last year was the most so far. This hobby has certainly given me my share of challenges and it would be tempting to ask: “Is it really worth it?” But I’ve got too much time and resources invested now to give up.

Good luck to you as you work through the rest of you season!


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

again - that 7MM mag is better than the fence


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## Mbeck (Apr 27, 2011)

HillBilly2 said:


> Forget hanging bacon on it, just rub with a piece of salted side meat. scent will last all year.


They ain't got no side meat up there, probably don't even know what it is.

Bring me up there this fall, I'll bring some side meat to wrap around his back straps.


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## DUKPT (Apr 8, 2011)

currier1 said:


> DUKPT, I feel your pain.
> Like you, I've had no issues since I started keeping bees 4 years ago...that is, until recently.


You got hit harder than me. I have been trying to figure out what may be different this year that may have lured the Bear in. I had originally thought the reason he came in the first time was because my Shepherds were in the Basement that night. Which was a First, as I have a female in heat and had to keep some Shepherds Seperated. When he came back the 2nd night, I had gone out to introduce myself to him, my Shepherds noticed, and started barking right away. He didn't care about the Barking. When he turned his head and noticed me walking towards him is when he finally decided put down the Super and do an about face into the Woods. 
I have been reading up on the habits of the Black Bear. I believe it was solely hunger and Honey. This is my 2nd year with most of my bees making it through the Winter, though it is really my 1st where one Hive had a lot of Honey. 1.5 Supers were full. I have read that Spring is their Sweet Tooth time of year. Also, NH Black Bear sightings are up 30% from last year at this time. F&G is claiming this is because we had one of the Mildest Winters in the last seventy years. The Temperature's this Winter pretty much kept the Bears out of Hibernation. A late Dry Spring as well has kept their food supply down. ( Sweet flowers ) Add this all up and it points to the Black Bears low on food and extremely Hungry. Spring is when they are use to their Sweet foliage. If this is accurate, I'm hoping it may never happen again in the coming years.


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## currier1 (Apr 14, 2013)

DUKPT said:


> ...Add this all up and it points to the Black Bears low on food and extremely Hungry...


Yup. Satisfying their hunger trumps any and all other objectives...they remind me of a big ol' Black Lab constantly looking for another treat.

I was so depressed after first seeing the mess that I didn't do anything with it until this afternoon. I gathering up the carnage and sorted through busted vs. scattered frames...roughly half were broken/shredded; boxes survived; bottom boards sort of. Stacked it all up outside the apiary to cart off once the girls (hopefully not the bear) forage what they want. That bear licked the foundation clean on every single frame - both sides - wax, brood, honey...everything. And the smell of bear was everywhere...ground was down to dirt from all the activity.

The good news is that under one of the piles, I found a honey super still full of bees. I pulled together a brood box of empty frames, re-assembled it and then placed the honey super on top. Assuming there's a queen in there somewhere (way too many angry bees to look), hopefully they'll move down and start over. If so, then I might just have a shot at salvaging one hive. We'll see.


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## DUKPT (Apr 8, 2011)

sakhoney said:


> again - that 7MM mag is better than the fence


I have been reading up on Bear meat as well. The general consensus is to have your cutter take his time and remove as much fat as he can. The fat holds most of the Gammy taste. Otherwise it is supposed to be very similar to beef. The Trichinosis thing with the meat isn't that common. Bears get it from eating wormy dead mammals. Unless they are desperate, they pretty much stay a vegetarian throughout the year. It's the same problem we use to have with undercooked Pork. Now a lot of restaurants will serve pork medium cooked as Farmers no longer or are no longer allowed to feed Pigs Old meat. Even if the Bear has the Worm, it is killed off at 145 degrees. My Wife works at a Veterinary Hospital. If I do take a Bear this Fall, If I cut off a Chunk of his Tounge she can Test it for the worm.


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## DavidZ (Apr 9, 2016)

you need a 7 wire 48" tall predator fence with metal wire not that poly junk strands for bears.
Your hives must be 5' from the fence, or the bears will get the hives with a swipe of their legs.
I had to deal with extreme bears and deadly monster moose in Ward, CO at 9687' in the mountains.
A 3 strand poly fence will not work.
Metal fence post, with insulators, and metal wire easy peasy no bears, no moose, no night visitors.

A bear fence is 12,000 volts with amperage of one or less to deliver a painful enough shock. 
Anything less won't work, and you say you have 8000, you'd need at least 5 amps pumped through that to maybe effect the bear a little.
12 volt batteries are pretty standard and you can find them in most ranch supply stores.
more amps = more power, volts is like water flow, amps are what give it juice/the shock.
you could gethit with a million volts, and nothing will happen, but if the amps are turned up poof your fried.


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## currier1 (Apr 14, 2013)

DavidZ said:


> you need a 7 wire 48" tall predator fence...A 3 strand poly fence will not work...


Roger that. Got hit again last night. Wrecked what little I had left. I'm done. Anyone want to buy a used poly fence?


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## DUKPT (Apr 8, 2011)

This Bear is one Strange Character. I hadn't cleaned up his destruction of the hive yet.
My three hives are on one 8' long platform at the edge of my Woods.
Directly in the back of my platform, there is a ditch.This is where he left his mess, scattered about in the ditch behind the Hives. 
I took the brood super he didn't damage and had placed it with bees in front of the other two hives. Been this way for two weeks.
Last night I shined a flashlight from the house to the hives ( about 150' ) No bear. I have been doing this every night before bed. 
This am I get up at day break, low and behold, he came back and cleaned up his mess??
Everything except the top cover was carried half way up my front yard and pretty much left in a pretty pile in the center of the yard.
He even grabbed the super I put in front of the Hives. 
This broken down hive was behind the other two hives scattered about in a ditch.
All I can think of, is he thinks this stuff is his now, he's waiting for more honey to appear.
( His toy Box )
He still didn't touch the other two hives. He must be lifting the lids and taking a big sniff. He Probably has a honey calculator in his head that lets him know when there's enough.


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

you an't put a bullet in his *** yet?


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## DUKPT (Apr 8, 2011)

Sept 1st is opening day. I have been doing some utubing looking how to Gut one out. I have only gutted White Tail Deer. He's such a beauty, I want to make absolutely sure I don't mess up after I take him. Though, I started to get a little sympathetic. I looked at the State Bear map again that shows the estimate bear populations for the several differnt segments of the state. 1/3 of the state has 1 bear every square mile. 1/3 has 1 bear every five square miles. My section says .5 bears every 10 square Miles. No wonder this guy is so Big. He's living here by himself and owning it.


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## MTN-Bees (Jan 27, 2014)

September is a long wait and unless you can sit with your bees 24/7 shooting is useless unless you get lucky. At this point the bear knows there is a great reward. Do yourself and your bees a favor- install a good electric fence system. Baiting the fence will be key at this time. The bear will be back until there is nothing left or you kill it.


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## R.Varian (Jan 14, 2014)

As a back up to electric fence I use a ratchet strap on the colony,keep him from totally destroying usually.


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## Hive Onthehill (Jun 11, 2011)

Sak, love the attitude towards takin him out..👍 I'm on board with ya....
Duk another way to keep him off your hives til you put him in the freezer is a flashing plow light charged by a battery on top of your hives..
It's a temporary solution until you can deal with it permanently but it should buy you some time....


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## DavidZ (Apr 9, 2016)

I bet a siren and light hooked up to a motion sensor would do the trick. 2-3 times and the bear may never come back.


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