911 Text From Landowner And A Wasted Day In the Bee Yard Due To Stupidity
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- In this video I fix a hive that was knocked over. I intended on pulling honey, but forgot lids and the blower, which was embarrassing and frustrating, lol.
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Just from the looks of the boxes it seems as if they were pushed over. I've had bears get into a few of my yards and they don't just push them over they tear them up. So this looks more like mischievous kids rather than a hungry bear. And you would not catch me trying to pick that spider up to get him out of my box LOL. Thanks for sharing.
It's almost like a people problem like "Tippin Cows" "Tippin Hives". The fences help with everything. Maybe give more space between the fence and the hives to deter them. Looking lean on the harvest. Thanks!
Yeah this yard is a bit cramped. I mistakenly set two up like that this year. Harvest videos to come over the next bunch of days.
What I do here in Vermont is what we call training the bear. Take bacon or I use peanut butter wrapped in tin foil and tie it to the fence. The hives attract the bear but the bacon or peanut butter makes them want to lick, or smell them. One good bite on the lips, tongue, or nose train's them that bees bite. Never failed with me. Give it a try.
We've done this a few times. I would have done that during this video if I'da remembered anything. I have pictures of a bear walking past my yard after being hazed like that. No interest in trying again.
Peanut butter on tin foil is the ticket here in Wisconsin to
That just didn't look like a bear did that. No frames were pulled out and the supers weren't dragged. It's like breaking into a bank and just counting the money, but not taking any. Also it didn't look like any fence wires had been popped from their standoffs and no tposts were knocked over. Maybe a deer?
So, and at this point I've probably typed this 30 times, lol, I've seen bears just knock hives over. I watched one do it in 2019 out of my window. He ran off when the boxes fell, didn't show back up that night but came back two nights later to destroy a few colonies.
If that was a bear you're very lucky it didn't destroy anything.
Yeah, agreed. Usually it would be 5 or 6 hives just totally destroyed and thrown all over the place.
I'm going to say. Not a bear. Maybe wind because when you placed it back the bottom board tipped easily. A bear would have made that whole yard a wasteland of broken and eaten frames.
Not always, I've had bears show up and just knock stuff over, only to show up later and destroy everything. I've personally watched a bear knock over a stack of boxes only to run off when they fell and the bees came out.
From what I know about electric fences is that grass can ground it out, especially in the morning when the grass is wet. So that lower strand my be canceling it out. The 120 voltage ones would have increase power to burn the ground out, it was cool watching a bug getting burned off a fence post. Of all the bear damage I have seen I have never seen just the hive pushed over, looked more like a teenage dare.
That is what I was thinking also. A bear would have gone on a eating frenzy once it was inside.
I've had bears knock a hive over a few times, only to show up later and rip it apart. I hadn't thought
Also, the weed wacker stays in the truck, I knock the grass down around the fence pretty regularly.
Teenager dare is certainly a possibility though, lol. That yard is right next to an atv trail used by a few kids.
Wet grass can short out an electric fence? Would it short out if the fence touched a wet bear nose or if a bear licked the fence?
@@cbbees1468 The wet grass pulls the power out of the fencer and so the fence will have little or no charge beyond the grass that is shorting out the fence. Electricity is trying to find a ground and the wet grass will provide that.
Lmao great video buddy!! Possible squatch attack 🤔😉😁No smoke... no gloves 🤔😎😎😎🏴☠️🏴☠️
I pollinate blueberries, the fields are in remote areas, lots of bears. I had over 20 bee yards this spring alone. A good bear fence needs to be constructed right. A ground wire pulled tight, all around laying in the grass, wet grass at night from dew when bears are active and the possibility of him stepping on it makes for great contact. The three hot wires needed, first at 6-8 inches so as stepping into the fence line the lower wire restricts his step forward, makes him step on the ground wire. Second and third strands are 8 inches apart. That's all that's needed, bears don't jump or hop so there is no need for a strand of wire over 2.5 feet seen in your video. The close proximity of the strands don't allow ducking and weaving. So conclusion is, get him to stand on the ground wire while three points of contact hit him in the leg and chest all at the same time. Next you will find tall grass can lower the voltage on the wire to the point the shock is nothing more than a tickle, 6000 plus voltage to correct a bear, the time invested in weed eating and a voltage tester will not be bad as driving 45 minutes to clean up the entire yard after a bear destroys your bees and equipment. I hope you don't get to experience bear damage.
Thanks, I've heard the three close strand idea a couple of times in the comments section. I'll definitely be employing that idea.
We keep the weed whacker in the truck and hit the grass around the hives almost every time we get to the bee yards, because of the diminished voltage.
It has been extremely hot and dry here in Southeast Washington. I was scheduled for back surgery last month so I planned to pull my honey before the surgery and freeze the combs to extract when I recovered. Most of the honey was uncapped, so I left it on the hives. I hired a local kid to help me pull it this weekend, and it was sill about half uncapped. I took out my refractometer to test it, and could tell when I took my samples that it was really thick. All the frames tested out at between 12% and 13%. No way will that spin out. The only place where I have a chance to keep it in a humid environment is our guest bath. So the supers are all stacked up over water in the bathtub. I check the moisture content every morning and spray the frames with lukewarm water. THe moisture content is creeping upwards. Another couple of days and it should be ready to extract. No idea why the bees did not cap it. It’s always something with beekeeping. Stu
PS Look at all the goldenrod!
We pulled a lot of uncapped stuff over this last weekend as well. I haven't tested it with a refractometer yet but I will as I go through to extract. I did perform the shake test on some outside frames as I was pulling boxes and noticed the vast majority to be nice and viscous.
I've had hives in hot rooms for dehydration, I've never tried to hydrate my honey. Interesting issue you're having. Agreed on the "why didn't the bees cap this stuff?"
Huge fear of mine is that one of ours will blow over!!
I'd rather that than a bear, but yeah. tipped hives aren't fun.
@@BKBees we don't have a bear presence here, thankfully!
It looks like a deer knocked it over. He can jump that fence. Probably a bee probably strong him on the ass that way it kicked over
That's the one I'm leaning toward. I've heard lots of ideas in the comments to this video but this is the only one that seems to make sense to me.
Ouch, that hurt my back!
I got a bear license for Newberry area. Got a problem bear, call a bear hunter. I am sure there are many bear hunters that will help you with your bear problem. I think Michigan gives out bear tags to beekeepers for livestock damage. Sometimes a few bee stings will chase off a bear, but it will be back.
Great video!!!! Loved the part when you dropped your veil "Wonder if there gonna be cool"....10 second pause as your getting dive bombed 😉😬🤣🤣🤣👍👍🏴☠️🏴☠️
you must have very kind and thoughtful bears by you ! any time a bear has left my bees was only after ate and destroyed most everything it didnt eat. I know I can see bear tracks on grass , did you see any tracks ?
I didn't look for any tracks. I assumed a bear because of the height of the colony and the fact that I've had bears show up to just knock stuff over the first time. Now after chatting in the comments I'm entertaining the idea that it was a deer.
@@BKBees I'm sorry to say , like some of the others, sounds like a people thing, they seem to just tip them , and you still get to have your queen and bees. When the bears get you , you'll know it was bears.. you wont have anything left.
@@wildbadrehna5780 I agree with your assessment. You would have broken frames and the hive completely ripped apart and the bear would not have stopped with one. My guess is probably A deer that hopped the fence and knocked it over. Had It happen with one of my hive.
@@rstlr01 ...the good news is that there wasnt really any harm done :)
Take your weed wacker, the bottom strand in the fence is surely grounding out in the grass.
I hit the grass around the fence most every time I'm at the yard. At least once every couple of weeks.
I agree with the others, that looks like a people problem more than a bear. A bear would have left the boxes in splinters, and eaten the brood...
Probably some kids. Bears sniff the wires with their nose to see if they are hot.
Looks more like that hive was tippy. When you went to put the hive back on the bottom board tipped forward pretty easy need to center your hive better so not so tippy in the wind. When you have a bear in your yard there is no guessing you will know without a doubt. The brood frames will totally be smashed. Hopefully you will never have that happen.
Lots of comments here saying bears will destroy everything. I've had, more than once, bears show up to only knock over a stack or two and run off when the boxes fell. They usually show up again in a few nights, to lay waste to the yard.
New audio system works great. 👍
Yeah for real. I was super pleased. That video would have been unusable with my old setup (my phone).
I had the same comment! Awesome!!💕💞
Yep, know that feeling, usually leave something behind, catch you on the next one
Sorry that you are having a bad day. But, I am glad that I am not alone when it comes to forgetting things and having issues every now and again!
Far from it. I think we're in a pretty big club in that regard. Thanks for watching!
Sorry to say but that’s not bear damage. Bears would have ripped that hive apart and then went into the next one. It would have stayed there and feasted.
Nah, I've had bears show up more than once to just knock boxes over and run off when they fell. I watched one do it from my window in the house in 2019. They show up another day to destroy stuff. I'm actually thinking deer though, I've had a lot of suggestions here in the comments and deer is the only one that makes sense to me other than a bear.
@@BKBees Better deer than bear. Keep the videos coming. Love the adventure.
Hay Brett, I think 3 strands is all you need. USDA bear fence instructions say 3 strands. First one is 6 inches off ground. The second about 16 inches (can't remember exactly) and the third (top of fence) is only 30 inches off ground.
Has worked well so far for 4 years and we have a ton of black bears here also.
Let me know if you want me to send the instructions and diagram to you.
I think I've seen that diagram, or at least one that the Michigan Beekeepers Association has on their website that recommends 3 strands in the assortment you described. I still think I'm just going to add a 4th though, for my sanity's sake.
@@BKBees 🤣 understood
If we can get the bear to read those guidelines 🙄
Waiting on your harvest!
Honey pull videos to come out each day for the next 4 days. Extraction vids after that at some point, hopefully soon but we're currently waiting on an uncapping tank.
Question... if you have a full honey super on the hive, why take it then feed. Why not just leave it on the hive for winter and not feed.
Because we sell honey. We do leave them with lots of honey, most of the fall goldenrod flow plus whatever unfinished honey frames they built up. We feed them up to a certain weight because pure energy, sucrose and water, is what they need to survive. They don't need more nutrients, or a more natural form of energy, they need energy that won't make them poop, that they don't have to work hard to digest.
What type of sugar do you use, cane or beet, do you think it matters? Thankyou for your videos!
I don't think it matters to the bees. I do think cane sugar is a damaging plant to farm, in really sensitive tropical areas, and beet sugar is made and grown here in the USA. Another vote for beet sugar is the price. The only consistent gripe that I hear people have about beet sugar is the GMO aspect, and I don't give that gripe much credence at all. In the end, the product is chemically pure sucrose.
I like the beet sugar idea the best , michigan product, probably go pioneer
I would probably would lift that colony the same way and pay for it a week after. Do you use ground wires in addition to your hot wires for the electric fence?
We're sore today. Not so much because of lifting this hive in this video, but for the lifting of honey boxes over the course of the next 3 days. Videos to come out every day for the next 4 or 5 days.
We have 8 foot ground rods, no ground wires.
Would you put a trail cam up?
I don't own a trail camera but this is something we've talked about a few times, for checking on our bee yards and also just to see what we have wandering the property. I probably won't put out a trail camera now though.
That was not caused by a bear. If you ever had a bear destroy a hive you could tell immediately. If you have deer in your area, one could have jumped the fence and knocked it over. That has happened to be. Also, I had 13 hives destroyed by bear last year and two this year. Adding another wire is a good idea though. Make sure the wires are pulled tight.
I've had dozens of hives destroyed by bears, unfortunately. At least 30, over the course of a bunch of years and a bunch of separate incidents. In quite a few of those cases I've had reconnaissance trips beforehand. Usually one or two colonies tipped over, nothing destroyed, with a more damaging trip later.
Thank You for saving the spider! ❤️
Spiders are special to me. I never kill 'em, and often give them refuge.