EPISODE 594 BEES, BEARS, AND MICE
alan skeoch
June 5, 2022
BEEKEEPING … NOT THAT EASY
Our son Andrew became a beekeeper this year. And he had
success . Two hives became three hives and honey
production was harvested. New bee hives…clean homes
for the Queens and their thousands of worker bees.
When winter came, Andrew slipped covers over the hives.
Nice and warm.
Tp dissuade skinks and other honey loving wild animals
he built a ire mesh wall around the bee yard.
The bees almost made it through the winter. Almost.
Spring was on the distant horizon when Andrew found
one of his hives had been destroyed by a mouse or a
bunch of mice.
Only one hive survived this attack. He packed them up
and moved them into his drive shed. Away from the bee
yard which had become a bee cemetery.. But mice found
the surviving hive and ate his bees and his honey.
He will not give up. Three new bee colonies are on
the way from the United States as I write this sad note.
Andrew remains optimistic that he can solve the problems
To assist him he has the advice of Russ Vanstone, a skilled
bee keeper for decades. Russ has seen all the problems. No doubt
when he reads this Episode he will respond with advice and may
even make location suggestions.
But I am not too sure that the bee yard can be rescued.
Bill Brooks, our nearby farm machine mechanic slipped
me a copy of the Halton Hills Indpendent and Free Press dated
May 26, 2022, article by Herb Garbutt.
“…when Ray Lavender went to check on his three hives near
his house just north of Acton” they had all been nocked over
and there were large claw marks on them. Claw marks..big ones.
A bear had
dropped by.
So what? So the same bear may pay a visit.Andrew’s hives are
also located just north of Acton. The smell of honey could
bring the bear to Andrew’s bee yard. And if he moves the
bee yard close to the barn that would mean big trouble.
There have been 35 sightings of bears (or a bear) in the
Guelph regions and 10 of these sightings were close to
Acton.
Remember the childhood story about Algie?
“Algie met a bear
And the bear was bulge
And the bulge was Algie”
So what should Andrew do if he meets the bear?
“…slowly back away while watching and waiting for it
to leave. If you are near a car or building, get inside”
Then wait for the bear to leave. Once gone, remove the
food he or she was after.
One question, I must ask Andrew and Russ: “How can Andrew be
sure it was mouse that got his bees. Might it have been the
Acton bear? Bears move around but also stay around.
I have met quite a few bears in my lifetime. No trouble. They
slip away or are too busy eating blueberries or garbage to
get aggressive. Not an animal to pet though. As a joke my
friend Wick (Terry Wickstrom) visited an island on Lake of the
Woods when the kids were small. “Would you boys like to go
bear hunting?” They agreed. The island was small, perhaps
a couple of acres. Forested; We pretended to hunt a bear.
Big joke! At the blueberry patch we found a nice pile of bear
dung. Fresh! FRESH! A bear was really on the island.
We backed our way to the boat and got off the island.
No problem fortunately.
Andrew was small at the time. He could have become
Algie, I suppose.
alan