I have not been following this thread too closely but we do have bears and here is what we do for them.

We have one of our Apiaries in the Western Interior Bush of Alaska, 230 miles away from the closest road system where there are many, many bears.  We have Black and Brown Bears.  

We use Patriot P20's that use either 12V or 110 power source.  A good solar panel and battery system works well.  We do not ground with a grounding rod as we move our hives in the season.  Bears always rush forward if the hot wire is felt behind their ears.  We space the ground and the hot wires 6 inches apart so the bear will have full effect of the hot wire in the front area of the face.  They will then move away.  We do not bait the bears as we have found that it only attracts more bears to the area.  The rotting meat can be smelled from literally miles away on a good hot breezy day.   

On our trailers we bolt the hives down with 15 hives per side and have it built where we can have it be a double-decker on both sides.  We then have a rod attached on each corner with a bolt at the bottom so that when we get to location we let the four corner rods, which have been held in place with a bungy cord or rope,  down to about 1 1/2 feet above level.  We have our wires spaced 6" apart and running hot and ground alternating going up the pole.  We basically have a hot wire field surrounding our trailers and have not lost a hive yet.  The roof of the trailers is clear hot house material to keep the rain out of the hives.  This way we roll; onto location with 60 hives and have a drop down step on the back of the trailer and work the hives from the center of the trailer from front to back.  Solar panel is mounted to the roof of the trailer.

Our bears are many and huge and extremely dangerous.  This set up has solved what had been a catastrophic problem in the past.

Dr. Joe Carson
eKo Beekeeping Supply
NOZEVIT International


 		 	   		  
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