Honey Bees and Bears
One of the most widespread clich’s regarding animal behavior is that bears like to eat honey. A. A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh with his snout buried in a pot of honey is an indelible image that millions of children around the world carry from their childhood. But the fact is, bears are indeed attracted by honey, and if you live in a bear habitat and keep bees, your hives are at risk of destruction. Bears of all sorts have the equivalent of a sweet tooth; they like foods rich in sugar. Sugar packs a lot of energy in small quantities, and bears need energy in spades to forage for other foods throughout the day. Also, bears hibernate for three months during the winter; they need to fatten themselves up so they don’t starve during their hibernation period. So bears that develop a particular taste for honey, and who are able to find honey, have an advantage: they are more likely to survive during the winters, and to raise young cubs. Bears will raid both wild beehives as well as domestic hives. They are not mannerly eaters; they will tear a hive to pieces and consume all the honey they can get their paws on, regardless of the needs of the bees themselves. Bees will of course try to defend their hive, but their stings cannot penetrate a bear’s thick coat. Bears, of course, need other food too — berries, roots, bark, and fish all make up a rounded ursine diet. But an unprotected bee farm can keep a bear occupied for a long time. Bears are active both day and night, especially in the months and weeks approaching their hibernation period (in the fall); in areas populated by humans, however, bears tend to operate mostly at night, knowing that people can pose a danger to them. In any event, bears are cautious and you are unlikely to catch one in the act of consuming your hives. If you do, there’s not much you can do about it. Depending on your jurisdiction and the exact circumstances, it may be legal to shoot the bear; if the bear poses a mortal threat to you, your family, or your pets, you could probably shoot the bear without legal consequences. However, if you keep bees and are prepared to shoot a hungry bear who might stray among your hives, you should be aware of local ordinances. Don’t try to chase the bear away. Bears are indeed shy and afraid of people, but a hungry bear intent on eating her fill may not be so shy. And if a bear cub is in the vicinity, don’t even think about going anywhere near the bear; a bear will do anything protect her young, and even the most innocent of moves on your part will be perceived as a threat. You should prepare beforehand by installing electric fencing around your beehives. A solar-charged electric fence, with alternating hot and ground wires placed 6 inches apart up to 3 feet in height, should do the trick. The solar unit can be positioned among your hives, deep within the fenced-in area. The energizer and battery can be placed inside a ‘dummy’ hive, to protect against theft. The hives themselves should be at least 3 feet inside the perimeter of the fence. To ‘train’ bears in your area to respect the fence, you can lure them by hanging strips of bacon on the hot wires. They’ll get shocked when they try to grab the bacon, and will soon learn to stay back. There are various ways to lay out, install, and charge an electric fence. Check with your local Fish and Game office about any ordinances regarding electric fences. If you are a commercial beekeeper or an advanced hobbyist, your Fish and Game office may be authorized to offer assistance in fence installation, but will rely on you to maintain the fence once installed. And your apiary should not be positioned in an area that might be potentially attractive to bears. Avoid major bear travel corridors such as riverbeds, and keep your hives away from trash dumps, animal carcass disposal sites, berry fields or other food sources, or streams running with fish. If possible, keep your hives in open areas, at least 100 meters from a forest grove or ravine. When you install your fence, don’t position any fencing under branches, as these may fall onto your fence during a heavy rain. Many U.S. states and municipalities, and jurisdictions in other countries, list honey as a crop, and therefore eligible for damage protection and reimbursement. However, to qualify for assistance or reimbursement, the beekeeper must take all reasonable precautions against bear predation and the resultant damage. If there’s a specific bear that’s causing problems for many local beekeepers and other farmers and residents, your Fish and Game office or some other municipal agency may decide to trap the bear and remove it. Relocating bears in this manner is expensive for the community and sometimes doesn’t work; the bear might find his way back to his original area and cause further damage. As a last resort, the bear might be destroyed. If you take proper precautions, you can profitably raise bees in a bear habitat. You just have to teach the bears to stay away from your hives; they’ll have to look elsewhere for their food.
Bear eating Bee Hive at Laural Falls
