Hi all --

I've just had my second and third bear attacks of the season over the
course of 6 hours or so.  The hives were orginally located too close to
the woods on my property, and after the first attack, I knew they had to
be relocated.  I'm a hobbyist and not interested in maintaining
remote-site beefields, and as the majority of my land is wooded,
figured the safest place for the hives would be a clear area nearer the
house, a couple hundred feet from their original site.  I read that bees
can only take moves of either a few feet or, conversely, several miles,
so I've been moving them in small increments towards that more
secure site.  I've also been blasting a radio and pointing a blinding
halogen lamp into the woods every night.  This worked for about a
month and a half, until last night.

So it seems the bear has stopped being fooled by my audio-visual
ruse, and it's obvious these hives should be progressing toward their
new site asap.  However, I'm afraid that small moves like those I've
been making will no longer fool the bear, who will certainly be able to
nose out the hives' new location only a few feet from the old.  Plus, I'm
worried that these small steps closer and closer to the house will
actually gradually lead the bear, having had the taste of brood, straight
out of the woods and into the backyard.

Upshot is, I need a one shot move of about 70 feet.  Is this possible or
will this hopelessly confuse the poor ladies?  Advice?  Pointers?
Alternatives?  I'm desperate.  And unfortunately, I can't move them a
few miles away for a week and then back without endless
complication.

But perhaps this is what I will need to resort to ...?  Please say it ain't
so.

thanks for your help!
shauna