Plenty of discussion on fencers in the archives.  Some from this last year.

> Strap around the hive, from top to bottom, and through the
> base unit. Use concrete blocks for instance.
Only time I have heard of this working is when the beekeeper strapped (using 
field fencing) a number of hives together  into a big cube. Even then he had 
entrance and corner damage, but he was after high end honey and moved the 
hives about every ten days , so fencing was a pain. He also did not work 
them during this period.  When the cube was up to weigh, he took it home to 
extract.

>the hive may well be knocked over, but the
> integrity of the hive won't be compromised.
Perhaps the brood(s) are safe if they haven't been worked for a quite a 
while. Unless you're running the full 10 frames (self spacing) there will be 
some to a lot of shifting and resulting death of bees/brood.  Anything over 
3 boxes will snap apart at the box joints like a dry branch. If there's any 
weigh in the upper frames, a good number combs will pop out of their frames. 
These aren't cows we're talking about. If they haven't gained access by now, 
they will likely roll everything into the bush so they can continue to work 
on it in the shade and protection of the trees (or down a nearby ravine just 
to watch I think)..

> Something I would love to witness. :-)
Only thing you'll see is a bear covered in anger bees tearing apart the hive 
and eating the comb. Stings don't even seem to bother their nose, but an 
electric shock will.

Get a fencer!

Dave Tharle
Ardmore, AB
Canada 

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