Bad bear behaviour leads to battle with the bees

By the time this article goes to press, the temperatures should be consistently below zero, and I may even be waxing my skis for the first outings of the season. I will also, with any luck, be able to take down our electric fence.

It was a summer of interesting bear behaviour around our house. I say “interesting,” but I really mean bad bear behaviour. Not that I am blaming the bears though (more on this later).

I’m not entirely sure where our nemeses hibernated, but it must have been close by as they started into their mischief very early in the spring. The first sign of trouble came when a mother bear and her yearling cub tried to break into the back shed where we store our garbage and old beehives.

While the back shed has held some interest for bears over the past years, it has been pretty easy to dissuade them from breaking in by placing a “bear board” in front of the door. If you’re not familiar with bear boards, they consist of a plank or piece of plywood with nails hammered into it. Placed with the sharp ends facing up, these spikey boards prevent bears from getting too close to the door, making it hard for them to break in.

This spring, though, our visiting bears must have been extra keen to get in the shed, and after several tries, figured out a way to sneak around the bear board, pry open the door, and knock a few old hives about. After a quick clean up, we put up an electric fence in front of the door to nip the problem in the bud.

While we watched, the sow and her cub brazenly returned in broad daylight. Mom bear approached the fence, sniffed it, then proceeded to try to walk through it. It took a bit of time for the shock to register, but the sow bear soon got a jolt, causing her to hightail it into the bush. The cub, evidently unaware of what had happened, looked slightly confused, then quickly decided that it would be prudent to follow her. Problem solved… Or so we thought.

The bears then decided to try to go through the window. We were onto their wily ways before they could break in, though, so we placed the bear board under the shed’s window. Surely the problem was solved now… Or so we thought.

Soon the bears decided to rip the siding off the shed to gain entry. Their target area was just under the eaves and, given that they had to cling to the side of a spruce tree to reach it, it must have proved to be too much effort and they gave up after a while.

At about this time Rae and I invested in two new beehives. We decided, given the constant presence of the bears, that it would be smart to place the hives inside an old dog kennel consisting of a two-metre-tall wire mesh cage. This proved to be a great idea, until it wasn’t.

Judging by the tracks, the bears first circled the kennel, seemingly stumped. We were pretty confident that the bees were safe and sound and left on a three-week vacation to visit our daughter and son-in-law in Newfoundland.

About five days into the trip, we received a panicked text from our youngest daughter. She reported that in a serendipitous event (for the bears), they found that they could tip up the dog kennel just enough to get a cub under the fence. Bears 1, Bees 0.

We called on help from our long-suffering friends who fastened down the cage to its wood base, making it impossible to tip. Immediately, though, the bears then figured out how to flip the latch on the door, and into the kennel they went. Bears 2, Bees 0.

Not to be outdone, the kennel door was secured with wire. Next, the small bear decided that the two-metre-tall mesh fence was scalable after all. Bears 3, Bees 0.

By this time, one of the beehives had been destroyed, while the second one remained relatively untouched. With a final call for help from friends, the wire fence was electrified. Finally, one for the bees. (Although the final score at the end of the summer, if you were keeping track, was Bears 3, Bees 1.)

I know our experience is not unique. A significant number of readers will have had similar experiences with bears. Their intelligence, inquisitiveness and problem-solving skills are amazing, apparently driven by their stomachs.

Additionally, residents in bear country know that animals engaged in bad behaviour are rarely to blame. At some point in their past, these bears learned to associate humans with food. You know the sources: dog food, bird seed, garbage, barbecues, etc. so I won’t belabour the point.

I know I’ve messed up in the past, inadvertently providing meals for bears, and we try to rectify the situation ASAP. After all, it’s up to us to keep these bears on as natural a diet as possible.

Nor would we want the bears gone. Despite this summer’s bear-induced headaches, we like bragging about our wild visitors and would miss their occasional visits.

To ensure that we’re ahead of the game when the whole process starts again next spring (as we know it will), we’ll be putting up the electric fence and bear boards before the snow melts.

And in the meantime, I’ll almost think fondly of this past summer’s battle of wits.

» Ken Kingdon lives in the Riding Mountain Biosphere Reserve. Send him a text at 204-848-5020 if you have wildlife stories to share.