I have shocking news for you, Bears lied to us!  They’re not really sugar fiends relentlessly searching for honey.  Rather they are merciless killers after the baby Bees! If you’re anything like me, you have burned into your mind that iconic image of Winnie the Pooh floating on a balloon to get honey out of a hive.  LIES!  Bears really are after the baby Bees, lovingly called larvae and pupae by their Bee mommies.  In fact, Bears are willing to endure the stings of thousands of Bees to get to the pupae, larvae, and eggs in the brood comb of a hive.  Their thick coats protect them, thus making the stings more of an annoyance than anything else.  Oh don’t get me wrong, Winnie the Pooh does love honey.  But after a long winter’s hibernation Bears wake up really hungry, and Bees provide a quick and easy source of protein.  The honey is just an added bonus to their snack.

This gives me no choice but to protect my Honey Bees with an electric fence!  Although we have never seen any signs of Bears in our woods, my neighbor Inky has had Bears visit his yard.  So Dad and I got to work setting up an electric fence around our hives.  Don’t worry, it won’t injure the Bear.  Hopefully though it will convince the Bear to leave our hives alone and go find an easier meal.  However, the electric fence is not fool proof.  As we know from the cartoons, Bears are willing to overlook pain to get food.  Similar to Dogs, Bears have powerful noses.  Once they know there is a hive filled with an easy to get snack, they will go right through an electric fence’s quick jolt to get the Bees.  Some beekeepers recommend baiting the electric fence with bacon or peanut butter.  This will get the Bear to pause long enough to get a shock to his nose and perhaps lead him to reconsider his snack.  However, electric fences do not work if the Bear’s body is not in contact with the ground to complete the circuit.  So Bees don’t stand a chance with Winnie the Pooh’s balloon attack.  “Bear of very little brain?”  HA!  Well played Pooh Bear, well played!

Paws crossed our fence will be enough of a jolt to keep any wayward Bears away from my precious Honey Bees.  Mom won’t let Dad do the bacon or peanut butter recommendation, because she fears Asa and I won’t be able to resist it either.  She may be right!  I must admit I am familiar with the zap of an electric fence…more than once…thanks to my naive puppy days living near a horse pasture.  But those horses are long gone, so Asa never had that experience.  I suggested Asa should take one for the team and check to see if our electric fence is working.  But everyone seems to disagree with me.  Well don’t blame me if a Bear gets through!