future help for those with bear problems

[rober]

http://www.beeculture.com/catch-buzz-spark-away-way-keep-bears-away/?utm_source=Catch+The+Buzz&utm_campaign=56257fa2e6-Catch_The_Buzz_4_29_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0272f190ab-56257fa2e6-256261257

[Perry]

Cool! 

[apisbees]

And when it goes off it will also scare the wife, children, dogs and cats. along with any other live stock you have. When used in the bee yard it would need to be placed so the censer covered any movement in the yard To have it facing away the bear could come from the back side. For the beekeeper, he would want to approach it from the back to shut it off first. I wouldn't want to be working the bees when they think there is a thunderstorm in the area.
Good Idea, hope it works out as it would be easier setting up than building a bear fence.

[robo]

Don't want to jinx myself,  but I am a firm believer that light and noise provides better bear protection than an electric fence.   I live in major bear territory and have not had any incidents since incorporating lights/noise into my bee yards.   

[Perry]

Don't want to jinx myself,  but I am a firm believer that light and noise provides better bear protection than an electric fence.   I live in major bear territory and have not had any incidents since incorporating lights/noise into my bee yards.   

 Howso? What noise?

[robo]

Well I have tried a bunch of different things.   Started with these and they work well other than they are just one direction,  so I have put 4 in each yard facing opposite directions.  The "house" unit is not waterproof, so I put them under a mini roof.  The nice part is if you get all the same freq, when one motion detector goes off, all four house units blink and the buzzer goes off.



In the yard at my house where I have electric I have taken motion sensing spot lights and replaced one of the bulbs with a screw in adapter plug.  I have a small handheld vac that is about wore out hooked to one on by the chicken coop.  It makes a heck of a squealing noise because the bearings are shot.   The other one in the bee yard has an old clock radio with volume turned fully up.

In my remote area yards I have built arduino units that have 4 motion sensors (one on each side of the box) with a red LED above each sensor and a buzzer and light sensor on the bottom.  What is nice about these is that one unit in the center of the yard covers all directions.  When any motion sensor detects movement, the buzzer goes off and the LEDs flash.   With the light sensors,  I have it set up that the LEDs  have a random slow flash at night replication the nite guard predator lights,  except mine covers all 4 directions and the real nite guards cost $20 each and only cover one direction.   I don't have any pictures handy, but I'll try to take some.

[riverbee]

thanks for the article rober, interesting and good read but......

okay robo...........my bears must be persistent.........lights and noise has never worked. 
have tried the sensor lights, flood lights, and noise? radio blasting music 24-7..........

good ol reliable parmark solar fencers delivering 13,000 volts works well, and bears don't come back.......

[apisbees]

It the radio is always on the bears become accustom to it from a further distance and and them get braver and will come closer to the lure of the smell and bees coming and going to the hive. on a motion detector they don't get a blast till they get close to the hive so they do not get to build up their bravery.

[riverbee]

keith, you are correct.  from my growing up, bears (black bears) become accustomed to just about anything. in my own experience, the only thing that keeps them away is some good old fashioned high voltage. 

[robo]

Here is one of my arduino 4-way units a 'driveway' alarm

[apisbees]

Do you use just the strobe, or are you using the electric fence also.

[robo]

Do you use just the strobe, or are you using the electric fence also.

I still use the electric fence because I do believe it is another level of protection.  But with just the electric fence the yards were still hit by bear every couple years.  I have not had a hit since using the strobe/buzzers  even though I regularly see garbage cans that have been hit near the bee yards.   As you can see baiting and keeping weeds down around the fence is no longer a priority though.

[rober]

is anyone using barbed wire for their electric fences? my granddad had a sow that would charge the electric fence at full speed & pop it when she hit it. switching to barbed wire fixed that. what was funny was she knew she was going to get bit & started squealing before she ever hit the wire. what about cutting treated plywood onto 16"-18" strips & taking a pneumatic roofing gun & putting a kazillion 1" roofing nails into the plywood & lay those strips along the perimeter of the fence. kind of an extreme version of putting carpet strips on landing boards to deter skunks. the 1" nails would not penetrate too deep but would definitely be uncomfortable enough to be a deterrent.

[apisbees]

I think a bear would dig under neath and flip them out of the way.

[riverbee]

robo, thanks for the pix of what you are using.

i don't know that i would switch to these or incorporate them?  maybe.... i had two neighbors ask me to place hives on their property. solar fencing is or can be a bit of an arduous task just for a couple hives and the units are not cheap, but gives protection and peace of mind, so alternative thoughts on keeping the bears out, thank you!

i have not had bears hit the hives since i went to solar fencing. occasionally they visit, but are gone as soon as they hit the fence. i don't bait the fence. never have and no need to. weeds? i can get behind on keeping the weeds off the lines but i have yet to have the fencer fail because of my lack of neglect.
now that i said that.............   actually the parmarks are pretty good for weed 'abuse'.....   i have owned other fencers and wouldn't buy anything but parmarks. that's just me and my experience.

rober, barb wire........i don't..........i wouldn't use charged barb wire.......too many critters can get tangled up in this and die a very slow and unpleasant death, or by the time you find them.....got to put them down. that's just me. 

[rober]

[/quI think a bear would dig under neath and flip them out of the way.


you could drill some holes & drive L shaped rebar into them. the ends could be overlapped so 1 rebar would pin 2 strips.

[apisbees]

Bears are persistent. I put 4 hives on a pallet wrapped stucco wire around and over them and wired and strapped it all together and had the hives strapped to the pallet. The bears tried to get in and in doing so broke the welds on the bottom 4 rows of wires, the hive bodies had claw scratches and teeth marks. The only reason they didn't get in was the wire where cutting into the flesh under their claws and teeth.
A beekeeper in this area used steel straps, thinking that he the bears may knock them over but would not get them apart. He came back to find the hive still altogether laying on its side. the bear clawed a hole through the bottom board and cleaned the bees, larva, honey, and all the frames out through this hole. Bears eat and crap out nails. When you come to the aftermath of bear carnage you do not see a nice pile of wooden sticks that once were frames that the licked the honey off of them, but the bear will eats the brood or honey comb frame pieces and all.
They will rip apart logs to get at the Beatles and grubs inside. Don't underestimate the power and determination of a bear. Especially if he is hungry.