If your bee yard is in an area where bears may also live, then the short answer is, yes… bears CAN be a threat to your beehives! But when it comes to bears, as with any threat to honeybees (and there are quite a few, especially in the winter months), prevention is key in mitigating the risk to your bees.
Bears are certainly attracted to beehives for the golden delicious honey inside, but they also really love the protein-rich larvae that may be developing within the cells of the brood nest. Bears have an incredible sense of smell and can detect beehives from miles away.
Unfortunately, once a bear does find a beehive, they will rip the entire thing apart and can cause extensive damage to the hive equipment and the colony inside. Any disturbance from a bear can disrupt bees, but this can be especially dangerous to honeybees trying to stay warm inside their cluster in the winter months. Even when the equipment is salvageable and hive boxes can be put back together, clustering bees that have been disturbed by a bear when it’s too cold are not likely to survive.
It is very difficult to keep bears away once they’ve discovered your beehives and may return again, even after they’ve had their fill of the honey and brood inside. Many beekeepers install electric fencing (with high voltages between 6000-7000 volts) around their bee yards as soon as they install their beehives to deter bears. Ensure fencing is around 3-4 feet away from beehives so that bears can’t get too close (as in the image above). To further reduce the risk of bears smelling beehives, beekeepers should also keep their bee yard and the area around it clean of any spilled sugar syrup, honey, or discarded combs.
Check with your state or local wildlife agencies (or your local beekeeping club) to find out if there may be bears in your area and to get a better idea of how much bear-proofing your bee yard might need.
Read More
An Overview of the Main Threats to Bees
What is Integrated Pest Management?
Critical Decisions for Bee Yard Setup
Bear attack? Maybe – PerfectBee Colony Forum *
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