We had an unwelcome visitor last night. A bear pulled both of our hives apart, tried to get into the run but gave up (he's tall - he bent the crap out one of the aluminum support poles that hold the netting over the run - the run is six-foot chain link fence, so that defeated him), then came up on the deck, knocked over all my patio furniture (it looked like a drunk staggered through), and cleaned out our little bird feeder. Stupid blasted thing.
One hive is empty anyway - we have a nuc coming from Betterbee this year to repopulate it. He sampled honey from that hive, but that was about it. The active one has brood, which is what Yogi was after, as bee larvae are nice, fatty, protein-filled treats, and the bears are, of course, famished now that they're coming out of hibernation. He was surprisingly delicate about it - rather than tearing the hives apart, he essentially disassembled them by taking the supers off, pulled a couple of frames out of them to eat what was on one side, and managed not to kill the queen or the workers. The bees were Not Happy today - they were going after everything in the yard, as they're in ticked-off mode. Alan had to put the hives back together this evening, which I'm sure was fun. Ironically, the insurance inspector is FINALLY coming tomorrow to look at the roof and the bees' deck where we keep the hives. Had the deck not been smashed in December, or had the inspection been when we requested it, the hives wouldn't have had this problem. *snarls* It SHOULD be covered, and, when it's rebuilt, it will be getting a hot wire.
My dog tried to warn us by barking her fool head off, but we figured she was just running her mouth about deer, so we told her to shut up. I guess we should have listened!
Oh my Hen!!!! What a nightmare. I'm so sorry! I don't know what I'd do if I ever saw a bear in my backyard. I understand they're starting to pop up in more and more places but still. Do you think he'll continue to come back knowing now what you have in your yard??
