Emily -
 
I keep bees in an area of northern Wisconsin that has very aggressive
ants.  For a number of years I put my hives on tables standing in
buckets of old oil.  It worked pretty good.  Last year a black bear
found my hives.  I saved what I could.  He returned three times
ultimately leaving everything in shambles.  At the end of the summer, I
went to the local saw mill and bought enough rough sawn wood to build a
bee house that could house 7 or 8 hives.  (cost = about $150 - not much
more than setting up a new hive from scratch)  No more bear problems!
The house works great.  There is still a lot of bear sign, but none has
touched the bee house.
 
Yet, as you say, if it is not one thing it is another.  The ants are
taking over the hives.  It is amazing to watch an ant on the landing
board literally attack a bee that is 20 times his size and the two of
them wrestle and fall to the ground where a dozen more ants join the
fight.  Perhaps I will put the bee house on stilts and stand them in
buckets of oil.
 
Well, FYI a bee house succeeded in keeping bears out of my hives.  For a
small-time beekeeper, like me, this is a reasonable solution.
 
Larry Krengel
Hives in Athelstane, Wisconsin USA
 
Excerpts from BEE-L wrote:
 
> From:          "Emily M. Pruyn" <[log in to unmask]>
> To:            [log in to unmask]
>
> I have two new hives in my back yard just outside of Boston Ma; and
> this
> morning at 6am I see a black bear sitting with my birdfeeder between
> his
> legs, scooping sunflower seeds intohis mouth!!
>
> Emily ---thinking if it ain't one thing, it's another!