bee yard protectors

[DENNIS]

hi
Does anyone know of a good electronic device or something better
that works to keep bears out?

[TREBOR]

Hi,
This is what I'm trying right now,and so far its working,but I don't know if theres been any bears around so its just a guess........
........ http://www.betterbee.com/products.asp?dept=589 .........
 
 I know one thing its alot cheaper then a good elec. fence... :shock:
oh ya, it dosn't work for skunks , so I just use chicken wire on the entrance.......hope that helps!
 
 It scares the hell out of me when I forget about.......... :lol:  :lol:

[TwT]

here's a video on a bear fence...

http://www.nols.edu/resources/research/movies/bearfence_xl.shtml

[Kris^]

We use several Critter Gitters all about the farm and the market.  Keeps deer, groundhogs and other critters out of the crops, fields, etc.  They are a little cheaper through Mann Lake, though.

-- Kris

[TREBOR]

Update!
 THe critter getters dont work on Vermont bears, they are to smart!
when they broke down the hive, they pulled the pieces just under the alarm and set there a had a nice meal just out of range of the noise maker!
  I put the hive back together three times and they kept coming back
so I left it there, all taken apart and wrecked!  They havn't been back sense.......!   five others remain untouched to this day! only afew feet away!    
      I'm guessing that it was just time to pay the bear tax! :lol:

[Brian D. Bray]

Try a dead man switch on the hive so that if the hive is moved a strobe light begins to pulse--if a siren is added it will work better.  The idea is to confuse the bear and panic into leaving.  Electric fences are often just a minor nuasance to a bear.

[TREBOR]

The gritter getter is about like that!
 it has motion and heat sensers and sounds an alarm that scares me half to death ( when I forget about it that is), And it has flashy strobe lights too! I have three of them in that yard! and no fence!
     I thought of putting my really mean russians in that spot! :twisted:

[BEE C]

If you only have a few hives, its worth it to put them into a bear proof hive hut.  I started with two hives this spring and we have grizzly and black bears in the forest which is just a few feet behind.  The bears attacked the hive hut but couldn't get through it.  As well the hives are on a stand which is attached to the structure, so any pounding on the walls really pee'd them off.

I have electric fence around this now just in case but so far its worked.  I plan on putting more of these huts in a clearing in the forest.  Twt that was a great bear fence video, from what I hear its how well a fence is constructed and how the bears are habituated with it that determines how effective it is.  I was working on some hives in a farmers field this summer and his electric fence was sloppy and obviously not tested on a regular basis, because he had some bulls walk right through it to try and get at me.... :evil:

[TREBOR]

:lol: , yea a beesuit dosn't do much for bulls uh!
 One thing I did notice is the hive they got was closest to the woods!
Now, when I do a yard its 75 ft or more from the woods!
I remember hearing something somewhere that the bears prefer
the cover of the woods.....!   So much so that they will drag they're food there to eat it. If they can.
  But 1 hive out of 38 for the year ain't bad for bear tax!
They got the bees and damaged the comb but only distroyed 3 frames
in all......maybe if I set the extractor out there they wont kill the bees or damage the frames :lol:
 The skunks now thats a different story! Even with chicken wire over the entrances, they still had a beaten path to each and every hive...!
 I am now pondering the whole top entrance thing!

[Michael Bush]

> I am now pondering the whole top entrance thing!

Don't ponder it.  Do it.  It will SOLVE your skunk problems instantly.

[BEE C]

Yeah my wife didn't want the hives too close to the house.  We witnessed a swarm this summer and it FILLED the back yard so much we had to get off the deck and go into the house.  She was not too impressed with that.  Our property is mostly forested so, if i expand its got to be out back.  I figure, electric wire, hive huts and bear traps inside the apiary fence should do it.  We had the conservation service trap a bear this year, but there is a big stink by alot of environmentally challenged activists about how many bears were shot.  Our bear was shot once it was live trapped, and it made the paper as an example of humans impact on bears...not good pr really.  I may actually build steel structured huts for the forest, because my family owns a shipyard, and I have access to a lot of steel scraps and a welder.  That should do it.   :D

[TREBOR]

Bear traps! uh...!
 someone told me to put a bunch of screws i a piece of plywood and lay them where I dont want the bears to go!

Don't ponder it. Do it. It will SOLVE your skunk problems instantly.

yes Michael, I knew you would say that, and I'm on my way to your site now to read about it!

[michelleb]

Knock on wood, I've had great luck with portable electric goat fence netting (solar charged battery). Premier1 is the brand, but Gallagher's supposed to be pretty good, too. Some stuff just isn't worth it.

My primary outyard is in a remote, wooded area, and on several occasions we've found bear poo near the yard.

The trick is to bait the fence, to teach the bear that it's electrified. Or, you run the risk of them charging right through. My technique is one of three:

1. Wrap oily sardines in foil, molding hooks out of the foil. Before hanging on the fence (bear nose level) poke some holes in the sardines with a nail.

2. Simply poke holes in a small sardine can, and hang from a wire from the fence.

3. Wrap raw bacon around the fence (easiest by far).

With all three, you run the risk of attracting yellowjackets, but you all keep wasp traps out anyway, dont'cha? And be sure to refresh the bait every few weeks, especially in early Spring.

And by the way--these fences pack way more of a punch than your typical horse hotwire. Ask my boyfriend. And the neighbor's dog. And...the neighborhood bear.

[Kirk-o]

Yeah that sounds good give them a reason to grab that wire wow----__________&*^%$#@(*&& that might give them a reason to stay away.
kirko

[michelleb]

Yup, it's like in the video posted farther up on this thread. If the bears recognize the fence as BAD, you're also less likely to have losses if you have temporary charger failure.

And best to set it up before your first raid--once a bear's had a taste o' honey, even a good jolt can be tough to deter him from returning to the same yard.

[wff]

I watched black bears go right through an eletric fence last summer (by the way, baiting the fence is illegal in many states).  I've seen critter getters fail all over.  A 444 Marlin is the best bear deterrent I know of.

[mick]

TWT with some of his "Bear deterrent devices" locked and loaded would do the trick!

[Kev]

We use baited electric fence to keep deer out of the garden. Peanut butter makes a cheap bait. I wire it to the fence in used beer-bottle caps. I'm hoping that this will work on the other varmints we have around here, including bears, skunks, racoons, etc. It works pretty well as long as I remember to refresh the bait every couple of weeks.

Kev

[Paraplegic Racehorse]

I haven't tried 'em yet (nor fences, or anything else) but all the miners in my area swear by devices very similar in function to the Critter Getter. I have not asked about brands or pricing, but I certainly plan to!