There are lots of bear stories from up here. I've heard from one person who watched (I don't remember why) a bear tear apart a hive and consume several frames of comb, being attacked by the bees, rubbing its snout and crying, whining or wimpering through the whole process. The person interpretted this as a sign that the bear was hurt by the stings, but maybe the sounds were expressions of "joy" at the great meal. A beekeeper tried a new method of bear protection: he placed 2 rows of 5 hives, touching side to side , and back to back, then wrapped the whole block with chain link fencing and some 2x4s. As an extra, he put some heavy nails 4-6 inch? sticking outward, through the 2x4s. He left this armored block of hives in a remote mountain location for about 2 weeks. It was a bad year for bears. When he came back the block was OK, but the bottom edge of some hive fronts had been broken away by bears clawing at the entrances, and the nails had tufts of bear hair and blood on them, and there were bloody footprints on the rest of the cage and the ground in front. The conclusion seems to be that bears have a great tolerance for being stung or slightly injured, when the reward (or hunger) is great enough. My experience with bears has been that they will carry (roll?) boxes or combs away from the hive stand, perhaps to reduce the bee attack and eat in relative peace. One year of repeated bear visits to a yard indicated that the bears chose brood patches in summer, (as neatly removed as a person could do) ignoring the honey, but switched to honey in the fall. This has got me thinking... I'd better go change a battery at one of my experimental yards. Skunks? I saw some "skunk excluders" that were reported to work well. They were wooden frames like the edges of a cube (one edge omitted), designed to fit against the bottom front of the hive and protect the entrance. The 2 sides, front and top were covered with mesh fencing, about 2 inch square holes, and an "apron" extended out from the bottom about 1 foot. The skunks couldn't dislodge or dig under the frame, and couldn't get close enough to the entrance to cause any damage. The bees flew through the mesh. bye, good luck Kerry Clark, Apiculture Specialist B.C. Ministry of Agriculture 1201 103 Ave Dawson Creek B.C. V1G 4J2 CANADA Tel (604) 784-2225 fax (604) 784-2299 INTERNET [log in to unmask]