Keeping your hives out of sight to avoid troublesome kids. Game/Trail Camera?

[keeperofthebees]

Where I grew up milking cows in a small wisconsin town, we'd rarely see anyone driving down the road past our farm.  The most amount of traffic we had was for haying time, or some other event going on like your local graduation parties.  The big change came in the last 5-6 yrs when the local recreation trail(formely rail tracks) was opened up & extended out onto the back roads.  As a result theres been traffic in places you wouldn't dream of.  A guy can't go 2 minutes without a car or a 4-wheeler driving down the road.  All the nice hunting spots & fishing holes are become public access.  Hidden areas that were wagon trails 100 yrs ago, and old state highways for the model t are fading into memory.  Yet theres some of us that like to tuck our hives away into the quietest spots like that, to avoid the crowd.  The only bees I've seen to make it through the cold are the real grumpy ones that don't need to be around people.  I've tried my best hiding them out of sight, and so far it's been good.  This year I had a bad run in with 45 nuc boxes that were more fit to be thrown together to make 10 packages of 3lb'rs, than they were to be called a nuc.  I had 4 hives going into winter...1 of them was a 4 yr old colony of Italians that once in awhile would make themselves a new queen.  The other good hive out of the 4 alive was a testy little batch of grey colored bees that decided to take up shop in some empty honey boxes.  Sure enough when I left for the winter after wrapping the healthy ones up with a feeder full of sugar syrup, I came back to find them tipped over.  My big mouth got around a little bit and I found that a friend earlier in the month(with no telephone) had picked them all up & set them back on the 4-ways(pallets) with clips.  Another gal I know from the farmers markets around my area had a couple of her hives snatched up out of her apple orchard. 

How many of you guys out there have just gotten plain fed up and spent the money on a good game/trail camera with night vision? 

[iddee]

I can't help you there. In 23 years, I've had one nuc stolen and a 10 frame hive carried half way across the yard before the bottom fell off. They decided that was far enough.  :'( :'(   

[keeperofthebees]

Far enough?  Whoever cuts the road sides down, sneaks into the property to cut a 1/4 mile path across the river bottom(easy truck driving come deer season).  This year whoever it was, only cut about 50 ft into the property and turned around.  The cut line stopped at the beeyard.

[iddee]

By far enough, I meant when the bottom of the hive fell off, they set the hive down and left. I am guessing very quickly, as their legs had to be covered in bees in the middle of the night. Served them right.

[ablanton]

I'm pondering the same things as you, Keeper.  The majority of my hives are in a secluded area where there is a fair amount of 4-wheeler traffic.  Every time I go to check the girls out, I hold my breath wondering if it will be the day I find my hives vandalized or gone.  So far, after a year, no trouble; but, I have been thinking about a trail cam with night vision just in case.

If you go that route and find one you like, let me know how it works for you.

[Slowmodem]

There are some really bad people out there.  I don't know why they do what they do.  Here's a really sad story from last year:

http://www.beesource.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-282413.html

[keeperofthebees]

I'm pondering the same things as you, Keeper.  The majority of my hives are in a secluded area where there is a fair amount of 4-wheeler traffic.  Every time I go to check the girls out, I hold my breath wondering if it will be the day I find my hives vandalized or gone.  So far, after a year, no trouble; but, I have been thinking about a trail cam with night vision just in case.

If you go that route and find one you like, let me know how it works for you.

The trail cams from what I hear, are around a hundred bucks for a decent one.  If you've got yourself an old haybarn that nobody is using, that might be a good start for you to hide the hives in.  You'd better be the one feeding hay, because you're not going to make friends with the guy that has to go up there on a hot day and deal with a cloud of bees.  Watch them close and don't let them swarm.  We had bumbles in a straw mau yrs back...Lots of them. 

4 or 5 hives in an old silo foundation?....Maybe face the opening off with some steel grate, or a heavy oak plank door with a piece of log chain, like you're trying to keep grizzlies out.  Alot of silos are going the way of the buffalo in favor of pit silos & silage bags. 

Do you guys have those big steel corn cribs/bins out there for ear corn?  Those couldn't be too hard to lock down.

[Perry]

I do things a bit different, in that I sometimes place hives where they can be easily seen or watched. I figured that vandals don't like to be watched. It doesn't always work that way though, I have been hit twice since 2005. Lots of looky Loos too, plenty of footprints in the snow most winters.
Trail cams sound like a good investment, but only if you are prepared to do the follow up (press charges if possible).

[lazy shooter]

Trail cameras work very well.  They are in the 100 to 150 buck price range.  I bought my two cameras from Cabela's a few years back and paid something north of 200 bucks.  Like most electronics, they are less expensive and better as time goes by.  A camera will hold up to 100 plus pictures, and you can buy bigger storage discs to make them hold more.  Like Perry said, you have to willing to press charges.  Be sure and conceal your camera, or it will go away with the vandals and thieves.  In all of my youthful and fool hardy years, I never thought about vandalizing anything or anyone.  The thought of destroying property, especially livestock, is unbelievable to me.

I'm a bit confused by this thread.  Are you folks talking about public land.  Almost all of our private property in Texas land is fenced.  Also, in Texas the trespass laws and the fish and game laws allow for costly fines, like in the 700 to 2500 dollar range.  One of my best friends is a game warden, and they really hammer violators.  Anyway, the cameras work and good luck to you.

Contact your local sheriff's department and the game and fish agency.  They will have suggestions, and in case of an incident they will investigate.  Our game wardens are well trained law enforcement officers, and I bet your's are too.

[Riverrat]

I have had hives that are well hid and others out in the open. To be honest I had more trouble with the hives that was well hidden. People will mess with the well hidden hives for the same reason you hid them. They are less likely to be seen or caught vandalizing them.  I have had hives tipped over. I once had frames of honey taken and shot at with bot 22lr and shotgun. All was in a concealed area. I have also found when you make it harder for the people to get to the hives It also makes it harder on you to get to the hives in bad weather. I have lost hives when I couldn't get in while feeding when we have had days of rain. Most my hives I have now are out in the open or near by and easily accessable I have had no trouble around here with the ones in the open.

[LazyBkpr]

   Almost too bad the old mouse trap shotgun shell trick is illegal.  In my estimation, anyone trying to steel from someone else NEEDS to experience salt in an open wound and spend some time frantically trying to pick rock salt out of their hide.

[keeperofthebees]

I do things a bit different, in that I sometimes place hives where they can be easily seen or watched. I figured that vandals don't like to be watched. It doesn't always work that way though, I have been hit twice since 2005. Lots of looky Loos too, plenty of footprints in the snow most winters.
Trail cams sound like a good investment, but only if you are prepared to do the follow up (press charges if possible).

Most people have enough sense to leave a beehive alone, and keep away from it.  There was a nature center in town(hike trails & etc), that some polish fella had his stuff knocked over at.  Years back a buddy of mine came back to the bee yard to find red spray-painted bullseyes and birdshot surprise.  I wonder sometimes if it's all part of being a beekeeper.  Alot of us paint our hives to match the terrain when we tuck them into the hillsides(green-etc) to keep them out of site.  If people don't vandalize the hives, they steal them.

[ablanton]

I didn't intentionally hide my hives in a secluded spot.  That's just where I was offered an opportunity to put some hives.  As for fenced land, it is usually wide open around here unless there is some kind of livestock on it.

No offense to blue blood, but I've had several occasions over the years to need help (not bee related) from local law enforcement.  I haven't been real impressed . . .

[iddee]

ablanton, you didn't grease the right palms. Local law here doesn't work for nothing.

[Slowmodem]

A couple of webcam housings (without cameras) would be a cheap and possibly effective deterrent to vandalism.  That would make them think they were on camera.  Of course, the housings would have to be visible and hard to reach.  Here's an example:

http://www.amazon.com/Clover-Electronics-HS13HB-Outdoor-Security/dp/B000BVM85I/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1391803753&sr=8-13&keywords=outdoors+webcam+housing

[ablanton]

ablanton, you didn't grease the right palms. Local law here doesn't work for nothing.

Sad, but apparently true.  Guess I was naive enough to think my taxes were paying for it. 

[caesarsfish]

I have a branding iron and I mark all my boxes.  So far I have had no problems.

[LazyBkpr]

I have a branding iron and I mark all my boxes.  So far I have had no problems.

   Use it on the thieves instead, you wont  likely have anyone else try to take the hives 

[riverbee]

just some thoughts on this subject......
i have worked with all sorts of camera equipment over the years, and have used the best trail cameras that money can buy.........but the cameras can not always tell you who the offenders are unless you recognize them or get a license plate of the vehicle driven.  so you get them on camera, but can't identify them, and your local law enforcement can't either?  even if they did, .......doesn't seem to be on their planet to be under their pervue or concern enough to take care of the problem to resolve the issue.

the most i am concerned about, for the way my hives are protected, ...  is the juvenile or adult delinquents shooting holes in my hives.....i might catch them on camera, and law enforcement might 'investigate'; let me repeat here, they might investigate and MIGHT get prosecuted (big might and not so) ....and then what.....?  i think of retaliation, and there has been plenty of it of one form or another, so we pick and choose our battles. beehives up here are at the bottom of the list, or not even on a list as far as any concern for local law enforcement.

[Edward]

but the cameras can not always tell you who the offenders are unless you recognize them or get a license plate of the vehicle driven.  so you get them on camera, but can't identify them, and your local law enforcement can't either

Shame them by posting them on the    WWW



mvh Edward