Thanks for responding. Barbed wire is not a good idea. Too easy for critters to get hung up on fence and seriously injured. Much better to improve the fence structure, tighter wires and more of them. It is what solved the problem, no more now for years.
there should be a channel or live stream of bears getting into bee hives out in the open for the bears. also have a camera inside so when the bear opens it up, first thing you see is a bear nose with a bee on it. I could watch the bears get into bee hives for hours
You got lucky, ideally have two fences, an electric outer fence, and a mesh inner fence where they have to constantly come into contact with the electric wires for long enough to get through the inner wires.
Interesting video, Thanks for sharing. In some of the footage it looks like the ground is dry. This dry ground will have higher resistance and decrease the efficiency of your electric fence. I know of two ways to fix this. One, wet the ground around the fence. Two, add ground wire to your fence in-between your hot wires. I have had great success adding ground wire in dry conditions.
Thanks for replying. I have neutral wires spaced between the hot wires and when I test the fence using the soil near the fence as the ground I still got voltages in the range of 7500 to 8500. No, as I said in the video the problem was the wire was a little too lax and spacing a little too great. Because of recent wild fires, etc there was tremendous pressure on these guys to eat and prepare for winter. More wire courses under higher tension plus more food in the wild has solved the problem.
@@wildlifebybean But the bears are still starving. Your brilliant solution does not help the bears. Should it have? They were there before you were but they never bought the property.
@@WilliamMurphy-uv9pm And if he hadn't bought the property there would be no beehives there and the bears would still be in the same situation food-wise.
Where can I buy all the equipment in your video. I am a new beekeeper and want to protect them against bears. Does this equipment come in a set to buy. Thank you for the video.
Thanks for watching. Livestock/Agriculture supply places. Even a place like Home Depot may have stuff. If you need protection of same size area I used, you only need a 1 joule energizer (gives 8-9,000 volts at about 150 mA). You need at least 6500 volts for bears. 12-14 gauge fencing wire and solid wooden corner posts. Avoid solar powered, they are not as strong. If plugged directly to house current, the Energizer needs to be protected from the weather. You want good wire tension (I used turnbuckles) and seven wires to discourage small bears. Check how I used the insulators on the corners and how neutrals and positives are placed. Hive bodies should be at least three feet from fence.
Tape and plain wire electric fences are NOTORIOUSLY USELESS on thick furry/wooly animals, not to mention chickens. Some might get a shock on their wet nose if/when sniffing the wire, but most just walk straight through them. The best improvements are to use closely spaced *barbed wire* (to penratrate the fur), AND to have a very high current with a short frequency sender with a very good (wet) earth stake. Add some vertical strakes to prevent push-through.
Electrifying barbed wire, if that is what you are suggesting, is illegal in many places. I live in an area with lots of bears and five hot wires repels them quite nicely. Make sure to have one just off the ground as bears always lead with their nose.
@@cyberpleb2472 Why would electrifying barbed wire be illegal? I don't believe you. If electric plain wire is not illegal, and non-electrified barbed wire is not illegal, why on earth would electrified barbed wire be illegal? Also, I've seen bears CLIMB corner fence posts. So much for your ground wire thesis. As a farmer, I know, that here in Australia, all electrified fencing is supposed to have signs on OUTER property perimeters. For stock control, within your own private property, you can electrify whatever you want. A sign is a courtesy. There are no rules preventing electrifying barbed wire. All animals explore places differently. But when they KNOW food is in there, intermittent or weak shocks do not deter them. The thing is, each animal and each fencing setup is different. I've seen too many electric fences just walked through and walked over. Also, they learn not to fear it ... because sometimes they don't get a shock. But in principle, barb and electric is foolproof. Isn't that what you want? Ha, you should try keeping kangaroos out! They jump 4-6 foot high.
@@thedolphin5428 Electrified barbed wire is more dangerous than either barbed wire or electric fence wire on their own; this is not a difficult concept. The pulse is very startling and causes muscle twitches. An animal that is momentarily not in control of it's movements will be harmed more by the barbed wire than it would otherwise. It is illegal to electrify barbed wire in Canada, where I am. I have a simple wire fence and lots of bears. One strong stun and they don't tend to come back. The last one that touched my fence stared at it in a daze for 20 minutes afterwards, but was not permanently harmed. Bears do indeed climb, but they always lead with their nose when they are tracking a scent. The kangaroos hopping over your fence are not sniffing out honey. Incidentally, our bears can't read. ;)
I had the same problem slipping between the wires, I solved it by attaching chicken fence to the wires, they cant push through cause no matter where they put their nose it gets bit!
My electric fence has every other strand ground, 6" apart. A full 10,000 colts to the unlucky trespasser. I don't depend on ground conductivity. (Dennis)
When protecting bees or anything else from bears you need to use barb wire and the strongest electric fence charger you can find. Bears can slip through plain wire because their fur is so thick. Barb wire can be stretched much tighter making it harder for them to slip under or between the wires. The longer the barbs on the wire the better.
No. You should never use barbed wire on an electric fence. Yes, wire should be under sufficient tension to create enough pressure on the bears thick coat to deliver an adequate shock. This requires strong wooden corner posts. For the apiary in this video, a one joule energizer delivers 9500 volts which is more than sufficient once the wire tension was increased..
@@wildlifebybean You are underestimating the physical nature of bears. Once a bear learns how weak the fence is they will just ram their way through. At present your system just bluffs them. Having a solid fence system that cannot just be rammed through surrounded by the electric fence will make it much more difficult to penetrate for a bear. I assume your system runs direct to electricity without a battery backup.
@@Art-is-craft No, barbed wire should NEVER be used with an electric fence, rather it should be set up properly. No, I do not want to kill or even injure the bears. They were simply hungry and trying to prepare for winter. Yes, I use house current to the energizer to deliver 9500 volts DC at about 200 mA to the fence. The old fence was inadequate as described in another video. The new fence does the job. The bears now leave it alone.
@@wildlifebybean I am not suggesting a barbed wire electric fence. But a solid fence that cannot be run through will stop a bear. A bear that is aggressive enough can snap a simple electric line. A barbed wire fence with a solid profile with an electric line on the outside side will also work. None will kill a bear.
@@Art-is-craft Good luck building a fence that can physically keep a bear out; it's not worth it. If a bear can't push over a fence, it will climb it. It really doesn't matter how strong the fence is, only how strong the voltage is. In most places, it is illegal to use electric wire and barbed wire on the same fence.
i saw a video of black bear who dug a trench under the fence to get in and out, dude had tarpaulin on the ground around the fence but it didnt stop the bear
I feel so terrible for all of the wildlife that we have, slowly getting smaller by the numbers. There is no food for them, I understand that they get desperate and I understand you love your bees and you have them for a reason and I appreciate that too. I just wish that society would stop destroying lots and lots of forest and woods. We keep invading their space, and none of us want to learn to live with them, but they're expected to learn to live with us and by our rules. Every day they lose their homes, their food, there's just not enough food out there for these animals. I know you don't want to lose your bees, and your honey, and I'm grateful for what you do. I don't throw anything out, I throw it to the woods.😢❤❤❤
@@Art-is-craft Read the title. It suggests bears were saved (it does not state from what). How, exactly, were bears saved? Who suggested the fence would kill bears?
@@Art-is-craft You stated: "Barbed wire in between the electrical lines will help to stop push through". If the barbed wire is on the same posts as the electrical lines (i.e. running between them), this is illegal in many places. Perhaps not where you are, but definitely where I am.
