>By the way, after my post I found some big scat close to the hives.  If
>anybody can recognize bear scat from photos, take a look at...

My hives have been attacked in my backyard three times in 16+ years by bears.  The first time, I did not have an electric fence.  Took them three years to find me.  The second time, I was moving, got lazy and figured, "What are the odds my hives will be attacked before I move?"  The third time was at this house - the battery-operated charger had failed, and I did not know it.  That was seven years ago.  Now, I use a solar charger on my mesh fencing  to protect a dozen hives, 10 nucs and assorted mating boxes and keep the fence up year-round.  Here is a pic of one of the boxes with what I assume is a claw mark:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v213/narcnh/BearMark.jpg

Still using that box today.

Anyway, I have seen and continue to see a lot of bear scat.  Bears are always coming around, checking out the hives and leaving 'presents'.  Bear scat can range from very runny (if they have been eating lots of berries), which dogs love to roll in  (unfortunately), to pretty solid, like in your photo.  In short, looks like bear poop to me.

If it was a bear, once it knows where there is a free buffet, it will keep coming back.  And, eventually, other bears will find your hives, too.  If I can smell my hives over 100 meters away on a warm summer night, I KNOW bears can smell them from a lot farther away.  You really should think about some protection.

Bill

             ***********************************************
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

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm