My first BEAR Attack

[BeeMaster2]

I woke up this morning and looked out the window. At first I thought that I had left a bunch of frames and a box in the apiary. Then I noticed that the first hive is missing. The bear must have come through the fence right behind this hive because that is the way he went out. There are pieces of comb that fell out of a frame right behind the fence and frames scattered throughout the forest heading straight away from the fence.









Continued

[eltalia]

So, a cub, or young skinny bear?

Asking as G&TTB tale is about all I know about bears beyond
our Koalas :-))

Bill

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Hey Jim, sorry about the hive.  At least the bear only messed up, destroyed is more like it, one.  I have to strap all my hives.  A strap is only a deterrent, a focused bear would breach the strapped hive.  Blessings

[Beeboy01]

That bear will be back until your hives are decimated. Have a friend over in Ormond who had a bear in his bee yard.  It came back three or four times till he got an electric fence put up. By then he didn't have much to protect.
  When you set up the electric fence hang a few pieces of bacon on it. he bear will chomp down on the bacon, get lit up by the fence and won't come back.
  Luck with it.

[VermontHoneyBee]

I woke up this morning and looked out the window. At first I thought that I had left a bunch of frames and a box in the apiary. Then I noticed that the first hive is missing. The bear must have come through the fence right behind this hive because that is the way he went out. There are pieces of comb that fell out of a frame right behind the fence and frames scattered throughout the forest heading straight away from the fence.


Continued

Oh no... We do have bears in my area and I am always looking at my hives wondering if they are still there.  I have yet to put an electric fence....

I hope he/she does not come back

[Acebird]

Ah, Oh Jim.  Might be time for electric fence.  I didn't think bears would be a problem for you but you are in a nation forest.

[BeeMaster2]

So, a cub, or young skinny bear?

Asking as G&TTB tale is about all I know about bears beyond
our Koalas :-))

Bill

Bill,
I think it was a young bear, probably less than 2 years old. It only took about 5 frames. I just bought a 5 mile electric fence controller that I am installing next.

Question,
I have a barb wire nailed to the wood fence. I am going to test the resistance to ground but does anyone know if there is a good reason not to use this wire?
Jim

[BeeMaster2]

Hey Jim, sorry about the hive.  At least the bear only messed up, destroyed is more like it, one.  I have to strap all my hives.  A strap is only a deterrent, a focused bear would breach the strapped hive.  Blessings

Thanks Van. I will be strapping them down this afternoon.
Jim

[BeeMaster2]

That bear will be back until your hives are decimated. Have a friend over in Ormond who had a bear in his bee yard.  It came back three or four times till he got an electric fence put up. By then he didn't have much to protect.
  When you set up the electric fence hang a few pieces of bacon on it. he bear will chomp down on the bacon, get lit up by the fence and won't come back.
  Luck with it.

Thanks for the reminder about the bacon. The bears coming back is why I already bought a strong electric fence this morning.
Jim

[BeeMaster2]

Ah, Oh Jim.  Might be time for electric fence.  I didn't think bears would be a problem for you but you are in a nation forest.

Ace,
Yea, I have found bear tracks on my property before and my neighbor had pictures of one on his game camera last year. His property is right behind mine.
Jim

[BeeMaster2]

Here are the rest of the pictures and a video. I did the reply earlier but I quess it did not post due to size. I cannot get the pictures of the frames to post but they are in the video.

https://youtu.be/j6QzWxtOe90
Jim

[Acebird]

Question,
I have a barb wire nailed to the wood fence. I am going to test the resistance to ground but does anyone know if there is a good reason not to use this wire?
Jim

I would use the wire that is nailed to the fence as the ground and then run another wire through insulators as the conductor.

[LizzieBee]

I saw there was a frame that looked like it still had bees on it. Is it possible the queen is still there? Will you salvage what is left of the bees?

Lizzie

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Ok Jim, an electric fence is a good idea.  However how do you know the fence is working after installation.  So here is what you do, a sure fire, no fail system:

First take your shoes and socks off, you must be absolutely BAREFOOTED.
Second, make sure no one is looking.
Third, now PEE ON THE FENCE to see if the fence is working and be sure to let us know.

Blessings

[Acebird]

Ouch Van!  I recommend putting peanut butter on the conductor wire and seeing how many squirrels do a back flip.  If that works you put bacon on the wire to train the bear.

[Bamboo]

Question,
I have a barb wire nailed to the wood fence. I am going to test the resistance to ground but does anyone know if there is a good reason not to use this wire?
Jim
[/quote]

Hi Jim
Do not use the barbed wire as your hot wire as it will be earthed and defeats the purpose of an electric fence. The hot wire must be insulated from the ground so when the bear touches it she/he earths out the wire and gets a shock. You should be able to buy out riggers that you can attach to your fence or stakes called "pig tails" which you put directly in the ground as a temporary fence. Most electric fence "wire" is usually plastic with a thread of wire running through it to conduct the electricity and is fairly inexpensive. Make sure you earth the unit properly otherwise you will get a" tick tick" sound that will come through your electricity system in the house. When I was running electric fences that sound told me that there was a short somewhere either a branch on the wire or a wire touching ground.
Good luck with it.
Cheers
Mark

[eltalia]

So, a cub, or young skinny bear?

Asking as G&TTB tale is about all I know about bears beyond
our Koalas :-))

Bill

Bill,
I think it was a young bear, probably less than 2 years old. It only took about 5 frames. I just bought a 5 mile electric fence controller that I am installing next.

Question,
I have a barb wire nailed to the wood fence. I am going to test the resistance to ground but does anyone know if there is a good reason not to use this wire?
Jim

Figured as much Jim given the restricted space available to drag a
bear arse through :-))

The barbwire will be good to go, miles of the stuff in this Country.
As to conductivity? Unless your're on very sandy country - which does
not appear so from the scene of the crime - again you're good to go.
Ground stake in a foot at the energiser is fine. Bare steel stake, watch
the rust factor as that builds fast in wetter soils once a current is set up.
And.
The wire to post leakage would be minimal in wet weather and overcome
anyway by slowing the pulse rate way down if you're concerned as to
running a battery set down because of poor insulation.

Not a helpfull thing them bears Jim, my commisserations.

Bill

[eltalia]

Jim
Do not use the barbed wire as your hot wire as it will be earthed and ....

Heads up Mark :-)))
Jim is a sparky of sorts, he knows his Ohms from his megOhms, his milliVolts
from his bear zap levels.
You're not know Jim's nonB'keep skills so your info is great generic advice. ;-)

Bill

[Bamboo]

Jim
Do not use the barbed wire as your hot wire as it will be earthed and ....

Heads up Mark :-)))
Jim is a sparky of sorts, he knows his Ohms from his megOhms, his milliVolts
from his bear zap levels.
You're not know Jim's nonB'keep skills so your info is great generic advice. ;-)

Bill

Oh Dear!! My bad

[eltalia]

Jim
Do not use the barbed wire as your hot wire as it will be earthed and ....

Heads up Mark :-)))
Jim is a sparky of sorts, he knows his Ohms from his megOhms, his milliVolts
from his bear zap levels.
You're not know Jim's nonB'keep skills so your info is great generic advice. ;-)

Bill

Oh Dear!! My bad

All good Mark.
In another place I once questioned the ID of an insect, naming the post
as an instance of a wasp (photo). Unknown to me the poster was a
entomologist on salary looking for data on that bee subspecies.
So I had my arse handed me on a pie plate!!
Heh... all "character building" like ;-))))

Bill

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

I think Master Jim, was into radar, wave frequency.  Jim was texting about bouncing signals {million watt?}off planets if that gives a fella an idea of expertise of Master Jim.

Ya know your average Joe that has a million watt transmitter and receiver in his garage and directs a beam at a distance star to determine distance,,,,, in his past time so the fella, Master Jim, does not get board.
Blessings

[eltalia]

I think Master Jim, was into radar, wave frequency.  Jim was texting about bouncing signals {million watt?}off planets if that gives a fella an idea of expertise of Master Jim.

Ya know your average Joe that has a million watt transmitter and receiver in his garage and directs a beam at a distance star to determine distance,,,,, in his past time so the fella, Master Jim, does not get board.
Blessings

Heh... so don't go jogging past Jim's house as yer pacemaker might
throw a wobbly!! /laffs/

Bill

[BeeMaster2]

Question,
I have a barb wire nailed to the wood fence. I am going to test the resistance to ground but does anyone know if there is a good reason not to use this wire?
Jim

I would use the wire that is nailed to the fence as the ground and then run another wire through insulators as the conductor.

I did the measurement and the calculations. Under dry conditions it measured 58,000 ohms to ground. If the Elecrtic fence voltage is 20,000 volts then that it draws .3 amps. That is way too much.
I will do just that. I added a an electric wire, it is below the barb wire by a few inches but the barb wire being grounded help. Thanks
Jim

[BeeMaster2]

I saw there was a frame that looked like it still had bees on it. Is it possible the queen is still there? Will you salvage what is left of the bees?

Lizzie

I went through every frame and box, no queen. I took the hive apart and put the brood in a Nuc and put it as a second box above the Trapout in Sanderson.
Jim

[Acebird]

Check the flow hive.  I think you have your queens marked.  She might have tried to go there in a panic.

[BeeMaster2]

Ok Jim, an electric fence is a good idea.  However how do you know the fence is working after installation.  So here is what you do, a sure fire, no fail system:

First take your shoes and socks off, you must be absolutely BAREFOOTED.
Second, make sure no one is looking.
Third, now PEE ON THE FENCE to see if the fence is working and be sure to let us know.

Blessings

Van,
I tried that, didn?t work. NOT.
Didn?t you see Mythbusters. 
I did check it with a high voltage sensor, FVD.
It barely registers because the duration of the pulse.
Jim

[BeeMaster2]

Question,
I have a barb wire nailed to the wood fence. I am going to test the resistance to ground but does anyone know if there is a good reason not to use this wire?
Jim

Hi Jim
Do not use the barbed wire as your hot wire as it will be earthed and defeats the purpose of an electric fence. The hot wire must be insulated from the ground so when the bear touches it she/he earths out the wire and gets a shock. You should be able to buy out riggers that you can attach to your fence or stakes called "pig tails" which you put directly in the ground as a temporary fence. Most electric fence "wire" is usually plastic with a thread of wire running through it to conduct the electricity and is fairly inexpensive. Make sure you earth the unit properly otherwise you will get a" tick tick" sound that will come through your electricity system in the house. When I was running electric fences that sound told me that there was a short somewhere either a branch on the wire or a wire touching ground.
Good luck with it.
Cheers
Mark

Thanks Mark. I have lots of standoff?s here and my buddy just gave me the corner insulators and the springs and the tensioners. I completed the installation on half of the fence on that side of the property.
Jim

[BeeMaster2]

Jim
Do not use the barbed wire as your hot wire as it will be earthed and ....

Heads up Mark :-)))
Jim is a sparky of sorts, he knows his Ohms from his megOhms, his milliVolts
from his bear zap levels.
You're not know Jim's nonB'keep skills so your info is great generic advice. ;-)

Bill

Oh Dear!! My bad

Mark all good. I asked. This fence I mostly all wood with a single barb wire across the middle. I was hoping the resistance would be high enough at 2? off the ground but it is not. Thanks.

[BeeMaster2]

I think Master Jim, was into radar, wave frequency.  Jim was texting about bouncing signals {million watt?}off planets if that gives a fella an idea of expertise of Master Jim.

Ya know your average Joe that has a million watt transmitter and receiver in his garage and directs a beam at a distance star to determine distance,,,,, in his past time so the fella, Master Jim, does not get board.
Blessings

Jim

[VermontHoneyBee]

I have an area where I keep chickens and had a lot of trouble with predators.  Once they tasted juicy fresh chicken, they kept coming back and would break through everything.  When I decided to put an electric fence (made for chickens), I first went with the suggested size however, after a few weeks, I continued to lose chickens.  So, I decided to size the system as if I had 1 mile of fencing.  That did the trick.  Never lost a chicken again and I see from time to time little pieces of burned fur and skin still attached to the fence.  It taught them a lesson that I was NOT joking and made it too painful to even try.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that once they get a taste, they need very strong deterrents to keep them away.

[BeeMaster2]

Thanks Vermont, I bought a 5 mile fence designed for cows and horses with an internal battery and solar charger. I have a smaller unit on my wife?s garden. It is a battery unit also and pulses every second.  I touched it once and it but me on the ground. All I could think was to fall away from the fence. I did and got lucky and got away from it.
I didn?t have any thawed bacon so I put a couple of slices of ham on it.
Jim

[VermontHoneyBee]

Well, I can tell you something funny.  When I got the larger unit, I accidently touched it and it felt very weak.  I was thinking there was something wrong so I touched it again and again.  Each time I would get a little zap but not bad.  When I measured the strength, it was recording off the scale so I was thinking I must have been doing something wrong.  Fast forward to a few minutes later and I figured (keep in mind I had been working all day under the sun so my brain was a little fried), so I figured that perhaps it was because I had sneakers on.  So, yes I know very dumb, I took one shoe off and touched it.  I jump so high my (you know what - hint it is a pair) when up so high in my body I did not see them for a week.  Ok, they were fine but trust me that I felt that I had died and come back.  My finger had a burn that was very deep.  Moral of the story....No need to test fences with yourself.  Use a meter instead....lol

[Johnny]

a much simpler way to test an electric fence is to get a rod and wrap electrical tape on one end for a handle then push the other end
of the rod a few inches into the soil near the hot wire now move rod close to electric fence wire and watch how far the
spark will jump across the gap.  The larger the gap it will jump the hotter the electric fence. It sure beats peeing on
it to test if it is working. 

[eltalia]

The point I am trying to make is that once they get a taste, they need very strong
deterrents to keep them away.

Our chooks look after their own.
Attached is a "Dad", enguarde!

Bill

[Bamboo]

As country kids (all wearing gumboots) we would hold hands and make a chain holding the electric fence and then get the city cousins to hold our hands at the end of the line. They of course were wearing sneakers that by this time were wet because of the longish grass ....we could only pull that stunt once as they never forgot!!! We thought it was hilarious...them not so much.

[BeeMaster2]

I just looked out my back window. All of the hives are untouched. Yea. The slice of ham is still there. I will check it later to see if there are any bite marks on it.
Jim

[VermontHoneyBee]

I just looked out my back window. All of the hives are untouched. Yea. The slice of ham is still there. I will check it later to see if there are any bite marks on it.
Jim

Wooo hoooo

[yes2matt]

I just looked out my back window. All of the hives are untouched. Yea. The slice of ham is still there. I will check it later to see if there are any bite marks on it.
Jim

Jim does you game cam shoot video? Might be a good show, point it at the ham.  :)

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[BeeMaster2]

I pulled my game cam out of the field yesterday. Had to clean up the battery compartment and charge 8 AAs. I was trying to set it this morning but after I set it it is not working. I will take it apart this evening. I will make sure the ham is in the picture.
Jim

[Sledin]

Looking at your fence it's pretty low, I'd be tempted to run a second wire on the top of the posts. A persistent bear could climb over and not touch the wires.


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[Ben Framed]

Jim how did this turn out for you?

[Bee North]

This post makes me miss Bill....it made me laugh too!!

[BeeMaster2]

Phillip,
That bear has never returned. I must of gotten him a really good shock. We don?t even have the electric fence hooked up any more due to my 3 year old grandson being here every week.
Jim Altmiller