I'm a novice beekeeper with a single hive in a suburban back garden
in Montreal, Canada.  We're visited by lots of birds and squirrels,
some neighbourhood cats, and the occasional rabbit, groundhog,
skunk, or raccoon.  So far we've co-existed mostly peacefully with
this wildlife, but...

A few days ago my companion was stung for no reason, just sitting
quietly a few feet from the hive.  This is extremely unusual; we've
had this hive for nearly a year now, and these are the gentlest,
most docile bees you can imagine.  Stings are rare, and usually
result from our own clumsiness.  Obviously something is going on.

I looked around the next day, and saw that my plastic compost
barrel, which is a few feet away from the hive, had had some big
holes chewed through it; there were rotting food scraps scattered
at the foot of the barrel, and some eggshells several feet away.
Since my companion had seen a raccoon going after the bird food a
couple of weeks ago, it seems logical to suppose that the raccoon
is responsible for the compost mess, and very probably went after
the bees as well, which would account for their unusually high
level of defensiveness the other day.  So far this is just a
hypothesis, but in the meantime:

I've been reading about how to protect bees from raccoons, and of
the more sensible-sounding (and legal!) suggestions, I've compiled
this list:

  - Use a hive stand at least 18" tall.
  - Use hardware cloth or chicken wire around the hive entrance.
  - Sprinkle rock salt crystals on ground around hive.
  - Keep mothballs in holey jars about 1 meter from the hive.
  - Put sharp things on the ground around the hive entrance, such
    as a "nail board" or carpet tacking (nail side out).
  - Place something heavy on the hive cover.
  - Install an electric fence, preferably before the hive is "found".

One device I've seen advertised uses little blinking red lights to
simulate predators' eyes, which, it is claimed, keeps some animals
away.  That would seem the least intrusive solution, if it works;
has anyone here tried such a device, and what were the results?

Practical advice (suitable to a back yard - this isn't a commercial
operation) appreciated; if this topic has been covered recently,
please accept my apologies - I'm relatively new to the list.


Anne.

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html