Up here in Alberta most beekeepers in areas with bears put up an electric fence around their hives.I keep mine in my yard so don't need to and don't know how they do it but I know they do.

I don't really know how good a chain link fence would hold up to a determined bear, but I'll post on another forum and give you the results. Everyone I know uses electric fences.

I appreciate the responses and the thought of considering more strongly the use of electric fence. As the site is more remote (I could run electric but it would be an expense) a solar powered charger would have to be used. I have looked at the solar chargers and they say good things but when I think of a bear and some little strands of wire it makes me nervous (based on thinking of a bear swatting a behive and exploding it into a thousand pieces. I would appreciate any thoughts from other forums or if there are any specific types of "electric fence" that has been proven successful.

Thank you.

Destroy it?

Here are the replies I got about bears and chain link fences

1: "Maybe not "destroy" but it'd be ineffective against them. A 7' foot high chain link fence can be climbed over or under by a black bear with alarming speed. Any seams can be ripped apart. Any gate will be torn open.

Nasty critters..."

2"The easy answer is NO.

Trying to build a "bear proof" barrier that will work simply by "integrity" that will withstand the forces exerted on it by a bear, requires very heavy duty design features and very costly. What is the largest bear that the design will keep out? A 500 or 600 lb bear can exert a lot of force on a post. What kind of posts and how deep will they be buries and anchored?
How deep will the fence be buried? Digging under a barrier is one way to get around a physical obstacle.

I have had my "commercial" dumpster thrown around, turned upside down, had side caved in, all in an effort by a bear to get at what was inside. What solved this problem? (4) tires and a charge line attached to it."

We use solar chargers and fencers. Some friends I know use a solar charger and a 12 volt car battery. You can do a google search and find lots of info.

tonybeeguy,

Thank you very much for posting my questions to another forum and sharing the responses with me. From what I read, it doesnÂt sound like it would be a good idea to try to build a chain link cage around the hives. It looks like I will need to come up with the most powerful solar charger I can find and keep my fingers crossed. If anyone has any suggestions about the using solar chargers to keep bear out please let me know.

Thank you again tonybeeguy.

Had bear trouble last year, got a solar charger, put it inside a fake hive, pointed at the sun (those solar charges are pricey, and I don't want it swiped). Best to zap 'em with at least 4000 volts, they say.

Let me tell you that, even though we scared the bear away in our backyard apiary before he tore them apart, it is not fun at all to put bee hives back together after that happens. They think you are the bear coming back. It's pretty amazing, they are just outraged.

So, did he get your hives before you installed the solar fence charger or did he go through your fence?

Knocked the hives down before the electric fence. Probably his first hive. He was sitting looking at them when we saw him. Looked like he was pondering if the stings would be worth what he was smelling...Brood + honey. Steak + dessert. I knew bears were around (we're flanked by two national forests), I had just been crossing my fingers. The combo of the late freeze, the drought. Hunger brought the bear down to the valley.

Solar chargers don't come charged by the way! So I still had a problem of protecting the hives until the solar unit could build up a charge. So I bought a cheap plug-in charger from the local hardware store, with a long extension cord until the solar charger built up a charge.

Steve, Also be sure to pick up a fence tester and check on a regular basis(or just take your shoes off, grit your teeth and grab on)

If you put up a fence,they say to wrap stips of aluminum foil with peanut butter or bacon strips on the wire. The bear will touch with the nose first and get a feel for all the glory of the electric fence. It's hard to get the fence to shock through the fur.Also make sure you are away from over hanging trees. A bear will climb up and over the fenced area.
Read the article on living with black bears here:
http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/
It deals with bees and bears.

I knew bears were a possibility, but put off the inevitable. There was a "shocked" cartoon image in my head of what would happen when I put in an electric fence: ZZZZZZZttt!

Didn't get shocked. Pretty easy to do.

The hives are no longer in the backyard, found a better place just down the hill at a neighbor's, more morning sun. I had a hive there last year that didn't get bothered by the marauding bear, but of course it is still a possibility. I don't bait the fence, mainly because I don't want to attract a bear that wouldn't find the location otherwise.

Before I moved the hives to their location, I'm fairly sure the bear came back and the electric fence got him. One morning, some of the fence poles were tilted inwards.

If a bear can smell the bait,they will most certainly be able to smell the brood in the hives. The larvae is what they are most interested in,the honey is just a nice dessert.
Pf you don't shock a sensitive area on the bear they may walk right through the fence if it is not strong enough to shock through the fur.

My neighbor saw a small bear walk across the road about 60 yards north of where my bee hives are, so bears are still in the woods, and I'm not out of the woods with the problem yet. Checked the current, it's still there.

It has been interesting reading the posts on my original question. I thought that I would add that I was talking with someone who kept bees in Alaska and he told me they used an electric fence and on the inside of the fence they laid down pieces of plywood with long nails driven through about every 3 inches with the points upward.

The problem with that is it's inside the fence which means the bear will have gotten through if he reached that point. There's always the danger that You or someone else will step on one of the nails. Consider the possibility of dropping a frame full of bees by mistake and having to make a quick retreat. Many beekeepers lay some fencing down on the ground,connected to the ground wire to provide a better flow of current to the fence and anything that is standing outside and touches it. It's a safer method than using spikes.