Carpet tacking attached to the leading edge of the landing board will make
the raccoon feel unwelcome, but the spikes should be given a wide berth when
one is working the hive, or, better yet, covered with a strip of electronics
packaging foam when the hive is being worked, so as to avoid gashes and
stitches. 

The electric fence is too expensive, and the other choices vary in
effectiveness.

You could have a skunk or a possum just as easily as a raccoon.  In my
experience, skunks like bothering beehives more than raccoons, and tend to
react in an odiferous way to electric fencing, sudden lights, bad
marksmanship, or deliberate warning shots.    Possum tracks have very wide
spaces between the "fingers", at least double the width of the finger.  Coon
tracks look like tiny human handprints for the front feet, and human feet
for the rear feet.  Skunks have five-toed prints with claws out, and front
and rear prints are very similar. (Cats have four toes, and never leave a
claw mark in a print, as they retract their claws when walking) .  
	
Any varmit deterrent that is based upon fear is not going to work for you in
this scenario, as varmits that are prowling the suburbs have already
overcome many fears, and are dealing with all sorts of unexpected surprises
on every foray.  The fake owls do keep birds away, but even they lose
effectiveness over time.  In San Diego, the city employs falconers to fly
their very real raptors around areas where too many seagulls congregate, and
even this has to be repeated often.  Bird brains.

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