*_I got the Black Bear Blues_*
By Beth Fox
     The week before the FSBA 90th Annual Convention, a marauding, 
nuisance black bear destroyed all three of my backyard bee hives in 5 
nights in a row.
     This is the third year in a row this has happened and by now, I'm 
losing my patience with this thief.
     The State of Florida Criminal Statutes allow a homeowner to protect 
their property and the safety of themselves and their family.  From 
humans.  If a human being was entering my backyard nightly and breaking 
up my bee hives and stealing the equipment, I could shoot and kill them 
without being penalized.  But let a bear do it, and I shoot it, I go to 
jail for one to five years!  I don't have that kind of time right now.
     I installed an electric fence.  That kept Mr. Buster Bear out for a 
long time but winter is approaching and he's storing fat.  He dug a huge 
hole under the electric wires and got in.  Hive number one gone.  I 
filled in the hole and blocked the perimeter with big CBS blocks to keep 
him out.  He dug under another side, pushing the blocks away.  Hive 
number two gone.
     I bought a giant roll of duct tape and rolled it around the hive 
and stand until I used it entirely up.  Miles and miles of duct tape.  
He re-dug a hole, crawled under the wires and tore up the duct tape.  
That hive survived but they were unhappy.  The next day I attached 
another roll of duct tape plus tied electrical wire around the hive like 
a Christmas package.  That night he battered and battered until he got 
into the hive and ate all the brood.  Hive number three gone.
     For the first two nights, I would set my little 18 pound poodle-mix 
dog out after he bear and she'd get him up a tree.  I stayed out on the 
patio, watching for each time he started climbing down the tree.  I'd 
then bang on a pot with a wooden spoon and yell at him until he climbed 
back up.  By 4:00 a.m. I was exhausted and went back to bed.
     I now have a bear trap in my yard that the Wildlife people come out 
and bait every evening.  I gave them honey to make the stale bread and 
donuts more interesting for the bear.  He's too smart, he walks right 
past it but won't go inside.  This bear is no longer afraid of me or my 
little dog.  He walks down the street in the morning just feet from the 
kids at the bus stop.  He knocks over gar page cans we put out the 
morning of pick up and sits on the sidewalk to eat his fill.
     I can't have bees again until this bear is relocated.  He's to 
smart, too wily, too fearless.  I am too frustrated.

-- 
Dr. Malcolm T. Sanford
352-336-9744
http://apisenterprises.com/storey/


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