I had an interesting bee experience last Friday when I found my beehive had been knocked over and disassembled. I reassembled it in the cold, drizzly rain, upped the charge on the electric fence, baited it with peanut butter, and setup a second mesh fence. That night at dusk, Mama Bear returned with a cub in tow. We had a two hour standoff with the dogs barking and me shooing her (yelling out the window from the safety of the house.) The cub went into hiding but Mama Bear just sat under the maple tree at the end of the driveway while I shone a spotlight on her. She was licking her lips which i imagined was a Pavlovian response to being so close to the honey. I’ve since been told that she probably was soothing the bee stings from the night before. The helpful local police officer stopped to say, “Yes, she’s a big one.” and “I hope your fence works.” He shone his stronger spotlight on her and yelped his siren. She turned to run, then veered back and charged the cruiser. He yelped the siren again which sent her off running. After he left, she took up her usual spot under the maple tree.
Since there was nothing more that I could do, I finally gave up the fight and went to bed. But I didn’t sleep well and got up several times to check the hive (from the window, again.) She didn’t get into the hive that night and the bees seem to be recovering. But I’m still feeling anxious.
Old Emery Farm 