Ernie Gregoire wants to know about black bear damage. I have bee yards
in New York on the blue line (boundary of the Adirondack park). Prime
bear habitat don't ya know. I've had only one bear visit this year so
far. I hadn't replaced the batteries in my charger yet. My own fault.
They say that once a bear starts working a bee yard, he can't be
stopped. Not true! I set the hives back up, picked up the mess, and
left. Came back the next day with batteries. Of course he'd been back.
Took the same hive. Killed it this time. I replaced the batteries and he
hasn't entered the yard again. I recommend a Gallagher charger. The
model number is B-11. It uses 6 D cell batteries. They last 10 weeks. It
can also be hooked up to a 12 volt deep cycle marine battery. Supposed
to last 6 months. I use a 3-wire fence, all hot. For ground rods, I use
a standard ground rod cut in half. Drive the first one in next to the
charger, and the second one 100 feet away outside the fence. Drive them
in at an angle if you have ledge or rocky conditions. Connect them with
"ground" wire. Ground wire looks like electric fence wire, but is made
special for grounding applications.Drape bacon on the top wire of the
fence every 5 or 10 feet. With this set-up, I have never had a repeat
performance. Also, check your insurance policy. Your bees might be
covered. My farm policy covers mine. You won't have your bees back, but
you may get enough $$ to cover the cost of the fence. The charger is
$110.
    Also doesn't it seem that the bear tips over hives until he finds a
punky on that won't sting so badly and eats that one. Sure seems that
way. Hope this helps Ernie.  Mike