# Hives knocked over....what was it?



## Beltane (Nov 27, 2005)

Yesterday I went out to check my two hives and something had knocked them over! I went and got DH and he helped me put everything back together - what a mess! The poor bees weren't happy - not that I blame them at all. 

At first I thought it was a bear, but DH didn't think there was quite enough damage for that. (We looked at some bear damage pics on the Internet). Some of the equipment broke, but that could have happened when they fell over. I couldn't find one or two frames. All the brood was there, and I know that bears like to eat the bees and brood. DH suggested raccoons if they were climbing on them. (I hope it was raccoons). 

I did a powdered sugar treatment last Sunday so the hives toppled between then and yesterday.  I just hope it doesn't happen again.


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## Tana Mc (May 10, 2002)

I hate to say it but that looks like human interference. I have had to pick up countless bee boxes that were dumped over by kids "having fun". 
I have also had cows bump them over....

Tana Mc


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## Iddee (Sep 25, 2005)

Bear.... Likely a young one that got scared when it fell over. He will be back and the damage will be worse next time.


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## Beltane (Nov 27, 2005)

Thanks for the quick reponses. I guess I should look into an electric fence then? I've been reading about how other beekeepers have installed them. What a bummer.


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## Michael Bush (Oct 26, 2008)

You know your circumstances, but the picture, with no other context, looks like kids to me. Bears tear everything up usually. However if there are more bears than kids around, I might consider that.


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## Beltane (Nov 27, 2005)

Thank you everyone. Now I'm on hive check every chance I get!

I highly doubt it was kids. The hives are in a secluded area on my 40 acre property and we live in a rural town. Most folks don't even know we have bees so I believe this was some kind of animal ~ we've got plenty of critters around. 

Most of the beekeeping books I read seemed to portray that bear trouble with beekeepers was pretty uncommon. Is this not the case? I can't believe that I, with only two hives, would have this problem. 

Is an electric fence even going to work as a deterrent? I also read somewhere that NH is one of the states that compensates beekeepers for bear damage. Has anyone heard of that? Off to do more research.....


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## beeman97 (Jul 13, 2003)

an electric fence will not work if it is in fact a bear, once they have gotten into the hives there is very little that will deter them from tearing them totally apart on there next visit. you can try to move the hives to a new location & put up an electric fence, this may work, but only if a new bear try's to get to them, once a bear gets the taste of honey you cannot stop them without totally relocating the hives out of there range.
I would try to track down the missing frames, that may lead you to a better understanding of what did it , there should be a trail leading into & out of the hive area which this animal used, it's hard to believe that an animal would carry more then 1 or 2 frames with it when it left , but i guess its possible.
good luck


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## Iddee (Sep 25, 2005)

A recent incident in NC.

http://www.beekeepingforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=661


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## thequeensblessing (Mar 30, 2003)

Don't rule out the lowly skunk now. A skunk's prefered diet is insects and they LOVE honeybees. They go after the honey, but can really wreak havoc on a beehive by depleting the adult bees. They usually eat bees at the entrance, and you can tell when you have a skunk visiting your bees by the distinctive "clearing" they make at the hive entrances. They also attempt to "burrow" under your hives and can and will knock them over accidently in an effort to get to the bees, especially if you have a lot of shallows rather than a lot of deeps. We trap, on average, 6 skunks in our bee yard each year. We use primarily deeps as they are just too heavy for the skunks to accidently knock over. 
What ever you have in your bee yard, I hope you discover the culprit soon and put an end to the plundering.


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## Beltane (Nov 27, 2005)

Thanks for the link Iddee. It sure sounds a lot like my situation. 

thequeensblessing...I wish I knew if it was a skunk. We do have plenty of them around, but I haven't noticed the front of the hive being scratched up...I'll keep an eye out though. 

I'm going to try to mow down the area around the hives today so it's not so woodsy. Maybe those missing frames aren't too far off. I'll have DH take the brushhog around it this weekend. I'm going to make the plywood boards with the screws in them and place them around the hive...and price out a solar fence charger. 

Thanks for the help everyone - I'll keep you posted on what happens.

Laurie


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## Michael Bush (Oct 26, 2008)

>Most of the beekeeping books I read seemed to portray that bear trouble with beekeepers was pretty uncommon.

Where bears are uncommon... yes... where bears are common, no.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Does anybody in the area have livestock?

One of my hives was toppled. The neighbor has horses, one of them gets loose often, and I figure that a hive is just the right height for a belly scratch.


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## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

"""""Is an electric fence even going to work as a deterrent? I also read somewhere that NH is one of the states that compensates beekeepers for bear damage. Has anyone heard of that? Off to do more research.""""""

to make a impression on the bear ( if thats what your dealing with )) take a strip of aluminum foil( 2 or 3 inch wide 6 inch long )) put peanut butter between and fold over the wire ... or tie some bacon strips to the wire .... the idea is to get the bear in the mouth so it feels it ... 
I told one gal to do this ,, and she came back saying the fence has a lot of bite and she had a hard time tieing the bacon on it ,, with out getting a shock .. so turn off the fence when you put the peanut butter or bacon on it ,, then turn it back on


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Tom, that is just so funny. Ya got to color the whole picture for some people.

 Al


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## navygirl (Oct 23, 2005)

tom j... I resemble that remark! :nana: An observer would have been rofl watching me yelling Ow! then touching the bacon, then yelling Ow! then touching the bacon... I simply didn't want to walk over and turn off the fence (gotta be contrary sometimes). The good news is that I learned that my electric fence truly bites. 
Beltane, my bees have not been touched since I put up the electric fence. So it has worked for me. And as far as carrying off parts of the hive... my bear carried a whole hive body over a five foot fence and left it there.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

A battery powered charger will be cheaper than a solar powered charger. The bee keeper that I buy honey from uses chargers for bear all the time and says they work well.

If a bear did it there should be tooth marks on the frames somewhere.


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## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

navygirl said:


> tom j... I resemble that remark! :nana: An observer would have been rofl watching me yelling Ow! then touching the bacon, then yelling Ow! then touching the bacon... I simply didn't want to walk over and turn off the fence (gotta be contrary sometimes). The good news is that I learned that my electric fence truly bites.
> Beltane, my bees have not been touched since I put up the electric fence. So it has worked for me. And as far as carrying off parts of the hive... my bear carried a whole hive body over a five foot fence and left it there.


navygirl hope your not offended ,, I thought the post of putting bacon on the fence was kind of cute ,, don't worry I have done things like that to .. when I was 11 and on my uncles farm I had 2 run ins with a fence the first one ,, would have you rolling on the ground every time you would think of it years from now .. I would tell you but others might get hurt rolling around on the floor


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## Beltane (Nov 27, 2005)

For everyone that suggested a bear....you are correct. It is a bear.  I just came back from the orchard about a 1/2 mile up the road and the owner told me that their four hives had been torn apart last weekend. She let me check out their new electric fence setup and it looks really good to me. About five or six strands of wire from just off the ground to about 6 feet high on thick posts. Definitely got to go the electric fence route now.


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