Month: April 2017

I awoke this morning with a sense of trepidation, afraid of what I might find. To my delight the hives were untouched! I’m not sure if the bear returned or not. The bacon was all there.

I checked the hives this afternoon and in two I saw the queens! The third had eggs and is 48 hours post bear…so maybe. The fourth hive, which was my strong split and got hit twice, had larva and lots of capped brood. It’s all pre bear so I’m thinking it’s not viable. I will wait to see if they start eating it away to prepare the cells for new brood. I gave them all light syrup and saw pollen in all hives.

I also swapped out a brood box which was damaged by the bear. A total of four frames were lost to the invasion, though I was able to salvage the foundation/comb. They were damaged, but there was still a lot of wax on them that the bees can easily repair. Much easier than starting from scratch.

I have a feeling it will take a while before I can relax about the bear.

April 27, 2017

Ol’ mister bear was back again last night. Now all hives have been taken down. On my way home from Sac I picked up a new battery for my solar charger. I was surprised and very happy to learn that the battery came fully charged! I was good to go for tonight. Unbeknownst to me, while I was at work Wayne did a temporary install of his AC charger and got the fence wire hot! A huge thank you Wayne! I have strung the wire with bacon hoping that ol’ mister bear will take a bite and get his nose zapped. I am told that you have to train the bear to the wire, otherwise it won’t stop them. With fingers crossed I’ll see what the morning brings.

April 26, 2017

It’s been quite a day. Gone is the bucolic quality of the bee yard, reality has set in…I have bears! After getting over the shock (and boo hooing on my neighbors shoulder) I got busy. I already had many of the supplies needed for the electric fence, but a trip across the canyon was never the less required.

Got the fence up and wired with the help of my friend and neighbor, Wayne Kopp. I am so lucky and grateful to have such a helpful friend! Tomorrow I’ll get a new battery for my solar charger and with a little sunshine get the fence up and zappy! I don’t know what to think about tonight, though. I am told that I should expect another visit. I put a light out in the bee yard. Hope all goes well tonight.

Here’s a close up of one of the frames. You can see the bear claw marks. Lots of dead and dying bees. I put the hives back together again as quickly as possible. I saw one queen, though I wasn’t really looking. It’s been wet, rainy and cold the past few days, so the bees are already stressed. Have no idea what to expect. Will feed again tomorrow. Thankfully tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warm! Yahoo!