Bear attacked my hives oh no, please no!!!

[Michael Bush]

>PS. No reloading equip. needed. Just open a 3 inch shell, remove lead, add rock salt, and fold the cardboard back down.

Rolled up leather shoe laces work better and cause less harm...

[Oblio13]

The rock salt thing is a myth. It just comes out as dust and does nothing. Except maybe to make your bore very susceptible to rust.

[iddee]

It's easy to see Oblio has never been caught stealing watermelons in the south. Don't tell me it's a myth. I've been there, on the receiving end.

[Ben Framed]

It's easy to see Oblio has never been caught stealing watermelons in the south. Don't tell me it's a myth. I've been there, on the receiving end.

Ah haa haa haa Idee!! I bet it wasn't funny that day though!! Maybe oblio 13 would like to have a friend assist him in making a video with his wife shooting him in the rear with Rock salt just to prove his point and post the video here!! Ahh haa haa, just kidding ooblio13. 😊😁. This Made my day !!
Thanks Phillip

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

A bit off subject so I will be short,  when I was a kid, a neighbor had 1/2 acre of corn stolen one night.  The thieves were BAREFOOT.  Most likely they did not own a pair of shoes.  BTW,  I don?t think an ear of corn was left.  This was in Lufkin, Texas {east Texas}.  No fear of snakes in the dark, these were harden country boys thieves.

ID, did the salt leave any permanent marks, sorry for your harsh treatment.

[Ben Framed]

A bit off subject so I will be short,  when I was a kid, a neighbor had 1/2 acre of corn stolen one night.  The thieves were BAREFOOT.  Most likely they did not own a pair of shoes.  BTW,  I don?t think an ear of corn was left.  This was in Lufkin, Texas {east Texas}.  No fear of snakes in the dark, these were harden country boys thieves.

ID, did the salt leave any permanent marks, sorry for your harsh treatment.

Mr Van, I noticed you said "a neighbors"  hum,  did you get shot with Rock salt over the corn field heist?? Ah haa haa haa j/k 😊😁. Phillip 

[iddee]

No scars, Van. Most southern farmers planted a watermelon patch away from the house just for the ""game"". It was something to do on a Saturday night for the teenagers.         

[Robsc]

Seems I remember my neighbor mentioning to my dad about kids footprints in his watermelon patch when I was a youngin. Glad there wasn't any rock salt involved    

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Ben Framed{Mr Van, I noticed you said "a neighbors"  hum,  did you get shot with Rock salt over the corn field heist?? Ah haa haa haa j/k 😊😁. Phillip}

Mr. Ben: Just let me inform you Sir; I come from a long line of horse thieves, cattle rustlers, and moonshiners.  Yep, rit proud, as da say in dat dar east Texas of da kin folk.  Just hoping for a laugh.
Blessings

[LizzieBee]

Yikes! I haven?t been reading on the forum much because of school. There have been sightings of bears where I live but they?re really rare. It makes me want to strap down my hive though!

Lizzie

[Ben Framed]

Ben Framed{Mr Van, I noticed you said "a neighbors"  hum,  did you get shot with Rock salt over the corn field heist?? Ah haa haa haa j/k 😊😁. Phillip}

Mr. Ben: Just let me inform you Sir; I come from a long line of horse thieves, cattle rustlers, and moonshiners.  Yep, rit proud, as da say in dat dar east Texas of da kin folk.  Just hoping for a laugh.
Blessings

Ah haa haa haa, now I know why you complemented my "Ben Framed" name when I first started posting here !! 😊😁lol

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Mr. Ben, I enjoy your humor and I still adore your name {Ben Framed}.  Truthfully, my Grandpa was Sheriff and later a judge in East Texas.
Blessings

[beepro]

Van, I got one Cordovan breeder this season that put out 98% Cordovan worker bees.  And another breeder from
a different Cordovan line with unknown worker.   That is because I got it kinda late in the season before I can do a thorough
evaluation.     Maybe next season something will show up. 

[Ben Framed]

Mr. Ben, I enjoy your humor and I still adore your name {Ben Framed}.  Truthfully, my Grandpa was Sheriff and later a judge in East Texas.
Blessings

Thanks Mr Van. Laughter is good for the soul so I've been told and I tend to believe it may be true! My grandad was a cattle man and did business in west Texas. He has been gone for over 20 years now. There was a fellow in Texas who was an excellent fictional historical arthur by the name of Elmer kelton who won many awards and was recognized by the state of Texas for his great work,  Elmer passed away just a few short years ago. He grew up on ranches also, and wrote of his many experiences of the life as he was growing up and from what the old timers told him. One  of Elmers books, was relating to the great draught in the fifties. One of his charters in some of his books was CC Tarpley. My grandad worked with AT Tarpley here is Ms. Which owned Glen Medow Ranch here. My grandads crew moved cattle from west Texas during the great drought to save the better breeder cattle. I have often wondered if their was some conection. I guess I will never know. It was a wonderful time for me growing up and spending time on the ranches with my grandad. He was the real deal.  Blessings  to you as well... Sincerely, Phillip Hall "Ben Framed"

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Update, Saturday, October 20, 2018.  The bear make have cost me two hives.

One queen, breeder quality has vanished in a hive that the bear rolled.  I laid eyes on the queen 3 days after the bear visit.  The Cordovan queen appeared healthy at that time.  This week, I looked for the queen, for 2 days, in an easy to inspect nuc but today no sigh of her, nor eggs nor larva.  She is gone.

Ok, more bad news, I checked another bear rolled hive, the queen is OK, however the hive has been robbed out and there are very few bees.

So I did a newspaper combine of the two mentioned weak hives.  I could combine with one my 15 strong hives but I would rather let nature decide if the two weak hives are worthy.  Culling of weak hives promotes healthy surviving stock.  I did provide fondant and some frames of honey.  To bad I lost a breeder quality queen.  In case you are wondering, yes, I did see signs of varroa in both weak hives.
Blessings

[Ben Framed]

Update, Saturday, October 20, 2018. 

In case you are wondering, yes, I did see signs of varroa in both weak hives.
Blessings

Mr. Van,  I just read a recent post where you now have a provap, If you don't mind me asking , what is your program schedule?  Thank; Phillip

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Mr. Ben, Good Morning.  To answer your question about my schedule let me say I have treated 4 times to October with OAV provap 110.  I will treat one more time in Dec or Jan totaling 5 treatments for the year 2018.  My treatments begin in June after honey harvest, and I treat randomly as my arthritis permits.

My treatment timing should be weekly intervals and should not be random.  The main mite kill will be when broodless this winter.  During the summer, I just try to keep the mite population low until the broodless winter treatment.  All my hives have removable bottom trays which give me some indication of mite kill/drop.  Notice I said {some indication} NOT [accurate count], there is a big difference.

I do have treatment free hives: started with 5, last spring.  Down to 3 this Fall.
Blessings

[Ben Framed]

Thanks Mr Van, sounds like you are on top of it!! The reason that I ask is, I have noticed that some of the professional bee keepers which also use the  oxalic acid vaporizers and say they are having almost complete mite control. Such as Ian (a canidian beekeepers blog) and don the fat beeman. Some of us  hobbiest using the OV seem to not be having the same good results. I am wondering why.. ??  There has been some discussion on our forum about when and how to treat recently on a topic by beeboy01 which goes into the problems of mites. Mr Claude, TheHoneyPump has published a grand artical recently here which is very informative concerning the varoa mite ..   As always, thank you Mr. Van for all of your input. Sincerely Phillip Hall

[2Sox]

Commenting on the original subject of the post:

When I had my operation going in upstate NY, I had a double line of wire for my electric fence. Outside row was 14 gauge aluminum wire on metal T posts.  Inside line was heavy duty braided wire on fiberglass posts. Bears were in my area, and I never had an intrusion in the 10 years of operation there. 

Side note:  Bear broke in through my shed window where I had comb stored. Couldn't fit through but made a mess just reaching inside. Two hours later I had a solar fence put up.  I even had a cutout honey feeding station next to the shed, behind the wires - 24/7.  Bear never attempted to get at it - all the years I had it there.

My handyman told me a story of a bear he encountered, peering into my bee yard, laying down with his head in his hands.

It's curious to me - and very disappointing - hearing the suggestions of those here who advocate killing bears.  Not to preach, but we all caretakers of living beings who have their niche in nature and we put our sweat and blood into preserving it.  Certainly, every creature has its niche and purpose in the environment. Is it not our responsibility to respect that and do everything we can to preserve it too?

Yes, it takes some time and sweat to put up a fence, but so does beekeeping. I also maintain that anyone who puts hives in the woods WITHOUT a fence is betting on a losing game. I'd go so far as to say it's foolish to do so.

[Acebird]

Would a 22 deter a bear without killing the bear.