Fenced Enclosure

[brooksbeefarm]

I read somewhere that a bear can smell a bee hive miles away?? Mo. is getting a bigger bear population (Black Bears) and also Mountain lions. I have 7 outyards, some that are in isolated places (60 miles from home) and i've been lucky so far. Mountain lions don't bother hives? but bears will, they are both protected by the Mo. Conservation Dept., an agent came to our bee club and gave a talk on bears, most i didn't agree with. He said if they become a problem to bee hives the dept. will provide rubber bullets that work to deter bears, i told him i prefer 270 hollow points, that i've had bees almost 50 yrs now and i put them there, and they had better keep there bears off my property or i will. I have seen what bears have done to some of our club members hives and it's not a pretty site. Jack

[LazyBkpr]

   I am with you Jack. I walked through a yard where hives had been brought in for polination. Half of the 100 or so hives stacked there on pallets were annihilated. Literally busted up. Those were not our hives, but the field they were in belonged to the person I was up Maine visiting. It was a long cool night sitting in that field. The bear arrived JUST before the sun came up, and then the lights went out.
   Blueberries draw bears to begin with, and I am fairly certain the bears can smell the honey, or at least the hive and brood. A few years later this same fellow had about twenty of his own hives with an electric fence around it. His trail/cam set to take short vids with each activation showed a bear poking his head between the two strands of electric without getting zapped until he actually leaned into the fence... then it took off like a rocket striaght through the fence, then through the fence on the other side. It took that bear about an hour to return to finish getting a meal of honey, brood and bees. The bees fought, the bear got stung, but kept on ripping and tearing...
   We built a shed that summer to put the hives in, and ran the electric fence around the lower part of the shed. A bear did attempt to rip the lower window/vent open in late october. Broke the plywood, but was apparently either deterred by the hog panel bolted into the back side of the opening or it got zapped by the fence.  The report was very encouraging. Only one of the twenty hives in the shed died during the winter. Two more were lost this spring due to Noseama, but they survived the winter with stores left over.
  If next winter is anything like this winter was, there will be a couple of these sheds built for my yards. We don't have bears here, and cougars live JUST long enough to be seen by the first cow or sheep farmer...  at which point he DNR denies having anything to do with them being in this state... despite the tattoo in their ear...

[CpnObvious]

Lazy,

Could you share a pic or three of said shed?

[brooksbeefarm]

The Mo. dept. of conservation denied Mountain lions are in Mo. until two got hit by cars. Several people reported seeing them and even showed pictures they took of them, but was put off like a joke. The agent at our club meeting tried to build the Bears up to be harmless to people, that if you just walked away from them or made a loud noise they would go there own way, I ask, what if you got between her and her cubs, he said that was an old wives tell, that if you kept on walking and not stop they wouldn't charge you??( not what i've always heard?) I've never had a run in with a Bear,( have to take that back, my wifes maiden name was Bear ) but carry a 45 cal. pistol with me in the woods, you never know what you'll run into out there??? The worst thing out there now that a gun won't help you is Ticks, they must of had a good hatch this year. Jack

[riverbee]

'I'm not sure that an electric fence is in this year's budget, so I'm debating other options and I'm looking for some input.
 have plenty of fencing kicking around and I'm debating on creating a full enclosure, chain-link roof included.  Assuming I lock the gate, do you feel that, should a bear come along to investigate, it will get tired and roam away if/when it can't get into to access nature's candy?
I know there are bears around, I've seen two in the past 3 years."

bears and bees. i learned the hard way. bear fence first, bees second, not the other way around.  i also learned that when a bear hits your hives don't try to salvage what's left and put it back together for them. they come back and keep coming back, and they don't get tired and roam away.  where there's one bear, there are others, and  they roam through here quite frequently, and mothers with cubs. i had a bear hit my fence last week.

the cost of fencing; if one figures what you have put into bees and equipment even with one hive and replacing it?  the fencing pays for itself not only in dollars but in peace of mind.  when it comes to bears i don't fool around because i have too much time, money, and equipment invested in my bees. 

this is what i use, a parmak 6 volt solar unit, between 0.75 joules and 1.8 joules, 11,500 volts. this unit has a meter on it, and shows the voltage, and has an on/off switch. if i had a free standing fence, i would have purchased the 12 volt. anything less  will not keep them away from your hives.  this fencer has paid for itself in more ways than one.



for this i don't need bacon, sardines or peanut butter for bears to get the message. i also added two additional wires to the 3 you see in the pic, so a total of 5.  they can't dig under it, go through it or climb over it.  i added the additional wires to keep them from pawing and chewing on the oak.



just a young bear snooping around:

[LazyBkpr]

Lazy,

Could you share a pic or three of said shed?

   I dont have pics of the Sheds yet. I have been trying to get some sent for about six months.. The sheds are in Maine, I live in Iowa now..  We are planning a trip out this summer if I do not get pics sent to me before then.

   Just a 15 foot shed 7 foot wide sitting on 4x4's so it can be winched onto a trailer to move it.  Tin roof with a plywood ceiling inside to shed heat from the tin. A 24" bench running along both walls leaves a 3 foot isle. 3/4 boards nailed and glued to the bench for the hive bodies to sit on, Screened bottom boards open all year. It IS inside a building... and the  incorporated entrance goes through the wall with a landing board on the outside that can be folded up to close the entrance.
   Exterior walls are T1-11. A door in the center front end of the building. Two hinged hatches to either side/top of the door that can be opened, covered with #4 hardware cloth. On the other end there is a lower hinged door/hatch 24x24 in size near the floor with a piece of Hog panel fastened on the inside.
   In warm weather the hatches can be opened.. heat rises, so air is drawn in the bottom hatch and exits the two smaller top hatches. The top hatches are also opened during inspection..  bees that fly out during inspection tend to "beeline" for the openings rather than ping off your forehead.
   The hive covers are migratory style with 1/4 inch rims that have two 1" notches that are screened. For ventilation only. 2" pink foam insulation to put on the tops of each cover for the Maine winters.
   They worked so well I do intend to build ONE to start that is 5' wide for ten hives so I can keep them facing the sun.
   If it works well for wintering here, I will probably build more, one or two for each yard.   Being able to pull it up on my trailer to move it is a huge bonus. Spare supers just sit on top of the covers for winter, no extra storage needed..
     I think he had about $800.00 invested in the wood, door, hinges etc to make that building To make one smaller I am sure would cost less. 
   The bonus is the solar panel mounted on the side that charges a 12 volt battery, which in turn runs his electric fence that is run around the outside. He installed a small 12 volt fan to move air while inspecting, and a couple 12 volt lights from a motor home for better lighting. He said the bees do go for the lights, but as soon as he shuts them off they head straight for the screened openings.
   Always wondered why bee sheds, or Cebelnjak were not popular over here...  now I wonder even more.

[stickbow95]

Well... I nixed the fenced dog kennel thing. I was over my dads place yesterday to finish up wiring his addition and had a second look at the kennel. It is large enough, however the entrance door isn't wide enough for me to walk through without turning sideways, let alone if I was carrying a full super. So I will be setting up the electric fence on its own.

Lazy,
I am interested in the bee shed idea. Do you have a thread on it?

Ben

[LazyBkpr]

I dont have a thread on it atm Stickbow.
   I will start one when I put a shed together here, and or get pictures when I go to Maine this summer.

[tmrschessie]

For those of you wanting to use electric fence, here are a couple ideas for you.

1. run the first strand of electric wire about 4 inches off the ground and  the second strand about 10 inches. The remaining 3 or 4 strands about 18 inches apart.

2. Run a ground wire, old electric fence or barbed wire works good. Attached to steel rods. If the ground gets dry the animals don't ground out good and thus get through the wire. Withe this grounding wire set up they ground out no matter where they try to go through.

We had trouble with cows getting out and coons and skunks getting in...this system works.  Where your gate is run a single strand on a gate latch made for electric fence. Tom

[riverbee]

i have attached a few links to pdf files on bear fencing.  IMHO, 18" is too far apart, and you need more than a single strand where a gate is.  bear fencing, (spacing of the wires), depends on what you are using and how many wires.  bears will first try to go underneath, then through, then over.  typically under or through.  if one is only using 3 wires, as an example, the usda wilfdlife services wisconsin recommended spacing of first wire, 10", 2nd wire 12", 3rd wire 12", with a charger of no less than 7500 volts.  more wires, one can set the first wire at 6", then 10", 10", 10", or first wire at 6" and 8"-10" apart thereafter, or less, more wires less spacing.
these files have some great info, and different designs:

Bear Damage and Abatement in Wisconsin

Prevent Damage to Beehives with an Energized Fence Minnesota

Deterring Bears with Electrified Fencing Montana

Managing Bear Damage to Beehives Colorado

Black Bears North Carolina

BEARPROOFING BEEHIVES Vermont

Electric Fencing for Bears Virginia

[riverbee]

oops, and one more, simple construction:

Constructing a simple electric predator fence Bear Aware British Columbia

[CpnObvious]

Awesome River, thanks!

[riverbee]

well, i hope this gives you guys some ideas on e fencing, although it seems like a daunting task. it doesn't have to be. one bit of advice though, if you are looking to purchase a solar unit, stay away from purchasing anything made by ZAREBA, in my experience these are nothing short of junk, and you will be replacing them yearly, that and recharging batteries, also, when it rains, the water runs into the unit rendering them useless.  the board frys, and customer service for these is less than satisfactory.  you get what you pay for.

i know a beek further north of me who ran 3 strands on t posts around a couple of hives and uses a 12 volt parmak solar unit, pretty simple and also placed nail boards all the way around.  guess it works. there was another beek that had his 2 hives in a small shed, concrete base, open in the front with 2 strands running on t posts and used less than 7500 volts for a charger.  a bear went right through that and hit one hive and ripped it to smithereens. the voltage on the fencer was not enough.  a wildlife guy recommended the parmak 12 volt, so he replaced the fencer.  the fence ran tight around the shed but about 10 feet out the front of the hives from the shed.  he also placed two big nail boards out directly in front of the shed.  the bear came back but i guess between the charger and the nail boards, it saved his hives. 

[LazyBkpr]

I get zapped by my fence regularly..  Back into it, raise my elbow.. etc etc..   We HAD an older bushwhacker.. that thing was the hottest fence I ever had the displeasure of backing into..  My first run of wire was too close to the top row of barbed wire..   It took me about three weeks to figure out why all the birds were dying..  they landed on teh barbed wire, and the bushwhacker hit them, killing them instantly..    The relay died on it last fall, so we bought a new one.. a 20 mile fencer to run about 1/4 mile of fence..   It hurts but only makes me swear and look around to see if anyone else was looking...
   The nail boards...  I know better..   I would be the one trying to pry it off the bottom of my boot...  I imagine they would work wonders for bears though 

[riverbee]

"We HAD an older bushwhacker.. that thing was the hottest fence I ever had the displeasure of backing into.." 

tee-hee-hee-! bushwhacker........hottest fence......aye, and a WEED BURNER too!!!  scott, you ever set your grass on fire with that thing?.....

[LazyBkpr]

Every fall it caused fires..   It was not a "Pulse" type fencer.. it was a steady buzzer...  Grab that wire and good luck letting go again..   When a weed camne into range.. it continuously arced to the weed until it was dead, dry, and burnt to a crisp.. I LOVED the bushwhacker!!

[riverbee]

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