Well it happened again. We recently awoke to find our hives were ransacked. Except unlike last year when all of our hives were empty, my Chuck BEEly hive is full and active with bees. My tail drooped at the thought of my poor Honey Bees fleeing for safety into the night. At first we assumed the bees were gone and that it was the Raccoons up to no good again. However, something didn’t seem right. Dad’s new system of anchoring the hives to their stand seemed too heavy for Raccoons to topple.

As we approached, we realized that although the empty hives on either side of it fell apart, my Chuck BEEly hive remained intact! By sheer luck, when it was knocked over it landed on the base of the previous stand. Thus giving it the support it needed to not break apart.

Mom and Dad quickly went around to the entrance which fortunately was facing up, and my Honey Bees were still there! Clinging to the side of the toppled hive were some of the Bees in shock, but ready to protect their Queen.

Upon closer inspection, although the damage looked bad it really could have been much worse. The frames that we had stored in the empty hives, some of which still had tasty tidbits of honey in them, were basically untouched. At first Dad thought the moth balls that came spilling out of the empty hives, used to keep other insect from moving in, must have confused whoever did this from smelling the honey and proceeding further.

But then I, Detective Chuck Billy, saw the clue that solved this mystery. It wasn’t Raccoons that attacked my apiary. It was a BEAR! He left a big paw print in the wax in one of the frames!

Dad showed the paw print to a friend more knowledgeable in Bears than us. He said that at roughly 3.5 inches across it was either an adolescent or a small Bear who left that paw print. Definitely not a Baby Bear as our Mom suspected.

That’s when I pieced together what happened. The Bear toppled the hives, got distracted by the empty ones that fell apart, giving my Honey Bees time to assess the situation and defend their home! They must have stung the Bear on his nose and other sensitive spots and made him retreat! Mom and Dad uprighted the hives, and by afternoon my Honey Bees were back to work as usual.

Now before you say it, yes I know we need an electric fence. We have one, but for months now Dad had noticed it wasn’t holding its charge as it should. On sunny days it would be barely charged by the following morning, and on cloudy days it would hardly recharge all day. So we have a new battery on order. In the meantime, Asa and I built a scarecrow to hopefully frighten away the Bear if he returned.

I’m sorry Honey Bees for leaving you unprotected. I’m also so very proud of you for defending your home!