Protecting the Bees

Another job of the beekeeper is to protect his/her hives from pests such as bears, raccoons, skunks, mice, and vandals.  This is achieved in a number of ways.  The largest threat, that is, in relation to the size of the animal, or pest and not how often the threat occurs are obviously bears.  To combat bears and vandals, beekeepers can put up cheap electric fencing and security cameras.  Why would someone want to steal bees? Well, in a newspaper article featured in the Prairie Advocate, which is dispatched to Carroll County, Illinois and surrounding areas, “thieves took about $5,000 worth of bees and equipment” on March 14^th, 2012.  The beekeepers, Terry and Nancy Ingram had special bees that “must have had some special genetics which enabled them to survive” over “the past three winters and three summers of multiple chemical sprays”.  The Ingrams are convinced that the chemical sprays are a cause of colony collapse disorder (Prairie Advocate).

The raccoons and skunks can be taken care of simply by placing several bricks on top of the beehives and also elevating the hive (Blackiston, 2009b).  As for the mice, a tool called an entrance reducer can be installed.  “An entrance reducer is a thin piece of wood cut to the width and length of the entrance, with a notch in the middle to allow the bees to come and go” says Buchmann (2010, p. 38).  However, Blackiston doesn’t totally agree; he says, “Using a wooden entrance reducer as a mouse guard doesn’t work. The mouse nibbles away at the wood and makes the opening just big enough to slip through” (2009b).