> 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?

There are some good articles in the archives at
http://www.internode.net/honeybee/BEE-L/, and a flood of advice coming in
as I write this.

For moving, the most important thing to know is this: Is there a honey flow
on?  Are the bees flying much during the day, or has it been cool or rainy
with little bee flight?  This will determine whether the bees will return
to the original stand or not.

If there is a heavy flow on, and bees are coming and going in large
numbers, any move of much more than a few yards will result in huge numbers
of lost bees returning to the original location.  If the bees have been
confined or flying very little for a few days, as in a period of steady
rain, very few will return.  In conditions somewhere in the middle,
something in between will happen.

If you think the bees haven't been flying much and you can make the big
move, to test, just move a hive twenty feet during the day and see what
happens.  If the bees stay in or follow it, then you can move as far as you
like.  Otherwise, just move it back and reconsider.

If you do the big move, leave a small hive, or just a super, at the
original spot to catch any returning bees.   If any return and stay in the
box at night, simply put it in a dark place (see below) and recombine them
into a hive after they have lost their homing memory in three days.

If there is a flow on and you *must* move a fair distance like seventy
feet, you can move the hives into an *entirely* dark place -- not even a
crack of light or the bees will crawl -- like a basement or garage for
three days, then take them out to wherever you like.

You can also move them at night to where you want them and cover them with
a tarp.  It must be the kind that blocks all light, but you also have to
let the bees have some air and be sure that they will not overheat under
there.  After several days the tarp can come off.

For the bear, as others have said, an electric fence is the answer, but
once a bear has had a snack of bees and brood, a fence may not work, even
with careful training using bacon or sardines attached to a hot wire.
Relocation may be necessary.

You can hope that the bear is just passing through.

allen
http://www.internode.net/honeybee/diary/