We had bees once at the ranch. They only lasted a year or two before the bears had a lovely time eating them with out so much as a thank you. Bears do so love honey, and grubs too. While walking around the canyon here and there I run across spots in the ground where a bear has dug out a yellow jackets hive. Yum bears love yellow jacket hives too! I have been thinking about how to have bees again on the ranch. Of course there is the option of putting an electric fence around the hives. But then I think about those yellow jacket hives and wonder how long an electric fence would last with persistent bear pressure. Though I’m sure the bears dug out the yellow jacket hives at night so the counter-attack by the yellow jackets was muted. Yellow jackets aside, my plan is to have an apiary in the fortified carport of the YAHB. My good and most helpful friend Dave Burkland has supplied the talent for the project. The photos below are from the two Thursdays spent on the project so far. The first Thursday ( Oct. 17th 2013 ) we built a wide bench along the outside wall of the carport that faces the canyon – ( and installed the nice swamp cooler for the YAHB ). Then last Thursday ( Jan. 16th 2014 ) we hung the large wooden gates that used to be the doors to the entrance of the basement of the house. ( See I do sometimes save useful stuff to re-use, I just like to hold it to a minimum ). So the gates are up! I will finish off above the gates with heavy wire to allow plenty of ventilation for the swamp cooler, and add heavy wire all the way around the bottom of the YAHB. That should do it. Or at least we will see. The bee hives will sit on the bench facing the outside wall and I will create a small hole in the exterior wall for the bees to come and go. The carport will also offer some protection from sun and wind and rain. I am planning on starting with one hive this spring when hives are available for sale. I will keep you posted. Yum honey!
