Related Topic: Honey Bee Parasites, Pests and Predators - New slide set, viewable on Web

In the mountainous and heavily wooded areas of Pennsylvania, bears are a serious threat to beekeeping operations. Bears can do a great deal of damage to hives and equipment in a short period of time. They normally visit the apiaries at night, smashing the hives to get to the brood and honey and scattering frames and equipment around the apiary. Once bears locate an apiary, they return again and again, and it becomes exceedingly difficult to control their marauding behavior.

Conflicts between bees and bears are not new, but in recent years the problem has greatly escalated. Increases in urbanization, cultivated acreage, and the trend toward monocultural agriculture have rapidly reduced available bee pasture and suitable bear habitats. Black bears once ranged over all of Pennsylvania. Today, however, they are basically limited to the wilderness areas in the northern part of the state. The extensive use of herbicides and insecticides has further reduced bee pasture and forced beekeepers to move their operations into remote areas to avoid pesticide kills. In addition, higher honey prices have led beekeepers to seek better locations for honey production. Some of the Commonwealth's best bee forage is located in areas of high bear density. Bear populations and damage claims are reportedly on the increase. Coexistence of bees and bears in the same habitat has resulted in severe casualties to both animals.

Solutions to this complex problem are highly political, expensive, and have not been totally effective. Concessions need to be made by all sides. Beekeepers, game commission personnel, sportsmen, and environmentalists must work together to save bee/bear habitats and develop management schemes that will be favorable for both animals.

There are several precautions the beekeeper can take to reduce the chances of bear damage. Typically, bears move through their home ranges with preferred travel lanes or bear crossings which often follow along certain ridges, ravines, stream-beds, or the forest edge. While these are not necessarily beaten paths, they may be. Beekeepers can help avoid damage from bears by careful selection of the apiary site. Placement of colonies on or near bear crossings or dumps will most likely result in problems. Spreading litter around an apiary site may also invite trouble. Research has shown that the farther bee yards are located from the forest edge and ravines, the less chance there is of bear visitation.

Getting to know game commission personnel in your area, before bear damage occurs, can be invaluable. They can provide you with estimates on the size of the bear population for different areas and help to identify known bear crossings. Pennsylvania may have as many as seven thousand bears, and in some areas the population exceeds one bear per square mile.

Whenever possible, game commission personnel try to trap a nuisance bear and move it to an area where damage is less likely to occur and where it is desirable to increase population levels. They use baited culvert traps mounted on a small trailer, or special foot snares, to capture the problem bears.

Under Pennsylvania law, bears may be killed when caught in the act of destroying property. When a bear is killed, it must be reported to the game protector within twelve hours. Failure to do so results in a stiff fine.
Beekeepers who suffer damage from bears may be eligible for compensation from the Pennsylvania Game Commission. To be eligible for remuneration, the beekeeper must be a resident of the Commonwealth and report the damage within seven days. The hives must be on land open to public hunting when damage occurred and the hives must be within 300 yards of the residence of the owner or the owner's agent.

An apiary can be protected from bears by a sturdy electric fence. Such a fence must be dependable, relatively cheap to construct, and capable of operating in the wilderness.

Recent research in North Carolina has tested a relatively inexpensive and simple fence that has been reasonably effective in deterring bears. The fence is constructed with steel concrete reinforcing rods cut to 4-foot lengths and driven 12 inches into the ground. Three strands of barbed wire are used. The top and bottom wires are strung using plastic insulators on each rod to avoid contact with the rod. The middle strand is wired to each rod with a small scrap of wire to ensure good contact with the metal. This middle wire serves as a ground. The bottom wire should be 6 inches above the ground with 12 inches separating the others. A stake and guy wire are used for extra support of each corner. Insulated gate handles can be used to open the fence for easy access by vehicles.

Sturdy electric fences with a wire mat around the outside perimeter to prevent bears from digging beneath appear to be the most effective way of protecting colonies from bear damage. Two other basic fence designs are used by the beekeeping industry. One design consists of three or four strands of barbed wire, 10 to 12 inches apart, with the lowest wire 6 inches from the ground. The other design is a 4-foot-high woven wire fence, with two strands of barbed wire 8 inches above the ground and above the woven wire fence. With both designs, either steel or wooden posts can be used.

For all fence designs, power is supplied with a 6-or 12-volt battery which often proves to be the weak link in the system. Both the battery and electric fence charger should be protected from the weather and housed in an occupied hive or in an empty hive body. Because a good ground is essential, many recommend earthing the wire mat outside the fence.

With the simpler fence designs, it is important to have some kind of bait (e.g., suet or pork rind) attached to the wires. The bait gives the bear a proper introduction to the electricity when it touches the tempting morsels with its moist tongue or nose. Without the bait, the bear is likely to crash right through the wire, as impervious to the electricity as it is to bee stings. During warm weather, bacon or pork rind does not last long, so the beekeeper must continue to replace old with new. Local butcher shops can be a cheap source of bacon and pork rind.

Fences are totally ineffective if not installed and managed properly. The location of the electric fence is important in protecting colonies of bees. Avoid a site with overhanging trees, because limbs falling across the wires may render the fence inoperable. It is also quite common for bears to climb trees and then drop down inside the fence. To ensure continued successful operation, you must control grass and weeds along the fence so that they will not contact the charged wires and short them out.

Related Topic: Honey Bee Parasites, Pests and Predators - New slide set, viewable on Web