The Bear necessities

A couple of days ago we captured a swarm of honey bees and installed them in our top bar bee hive because the bees that occupied that hive this winter had disappeared.  We were very hopeful that our new bees would make our empty hive their home.  Unfortunately, that evening a bear decided that honey should be on the menu.  The bear did not disturb the top bar hive, but knocked over our Langstroth hive and tore off the bottom board damaging a number of the frames in the lower brood chamber.  In the ensuing chaos the newly installed swarm vacated the top bar hive.  We don't know if the queen of the Langstroth hive survived the attack.  We made some expedient repairs to the hive in preparation for some below freezing overnight temps and we ran some electric fence wire around the hive enclosure to deter Baloo the Bear from making our hives a nightly snack.

There are many advantages to living adjacent to thousands of acres of State Forest and there are a few disadvantages.  While we enjoy sharing the space with a wide range of Mother Nature's incredible creatures, we'd rather observe them at a bit more of a distance. 

  

Here is our hive enclosure before the attack.  It is a 6' chainlink fence dog kennel, but the gate was unsecured and Baloo used the gate to gain entry.  The Langstroth hive is on the right in this photo and you can see the white rope that is tied around both hives.  This was effective in keeping the hive together and preventing a total loss.  Baloo did not untie or tear the cord, but instead overturned the hive and tore open the screened bottom board.  From there he had access to the lower brood chamber. This entire enclosure is now surrounded by two electrified wires.