Black bears require forested areas to find adequate food, water and cover. The typical bear diet consists of plants, berries, nuts, insects and carrion.

Bears may turn to other sources of food such as honey and bee brood to build fat reserves for winter hibernation when berries and nuts are in short supply, as in drought years or in areas where human development has encroached on their habitat,

Bears can cause significant damage to individual bee yards. Once a bear develops a taste for honey and bee brood, it will likely continue to raid bee yards. Methods to dissuade it become less and less effective. It is important to prevent bear damage before it begins.

Here are some recommendations for preventing bear damage:

• Avoid placing beeyards near areas frequently used by bears.
• Electric fences are quite effective in preventing black bear damage to beehives and are relatively inexpensive and easy to install.
• An electric fence must be well grounded, sufficiently charged at all times, and maintained on a regular basis.
• Although bears seldom break through a properly constructed and well maintained fence, some failures occur when hives are placed close to the fence.
• Place beeyards in the open, at least 300 away from forest edges and other cover where bears might traverse.
• Avoid placing beeyards near areas frequently used by bears, such as berry patches, garbage dumps, heavily forested areas, streams, ravines, forested ridges and game trails.

Removal of Bears

When preventive methods fail, it may be necessary to remove a bear from the area. Removal must be done in cooperation with local wildlife personnel after other control methods have failed to reduce bear damage.


Removal Services

Al Schroeder
Arcadia. Mi (north of Manistee, near Crystal Mountain Ski Resort)
231-889-7029