For those of you who have been following our bear saga, here is where we are at now:
1. All but one of the hives have been safely relocated to a new home, down on the farm, behind our barn, surrounded by multiple layers of tall, permanent electric fencing:

If you are wondering why we left one hive behind, well, we are using it as a bit of a sacrifice. Here’s our thinking: these hives are just a few feet away from our house, which has a lovely, often-used grill (which surely smells of tasty meat drippings), on a screen porch, as well as a kitchen door that is typically left open to the screen porch in summer, so that pets may go in and out freely. We are concerned that if a bear shows up looking for honey and doesn’t find a hive, he will then amble over to the house to check out what’s tasty there. Thus, we want to give the bear negative feedback AT THE HIVE, rather than chase him out of our kitchen. So here’s our plan:
2. We acquired a new dog, Nicky, who had a reputation for a shrill, piercing bark. As I mentioned, we’ve learned that Nicky prefers sleeping under my bed, rather than keeping watch for bears, which is how the second bear attack happened. So his slumbering habit at first presented a problem. Then, I noticed that Nicky had another feature. He sheds. A LOT. I’ve taken to brushing him out at night, and scattering his bounty of hair around the remaining bee hive. This permits Nicky to get his needed beauty rest, while still hopefully putting the scent of a shrill barking dog around the property.

3. Bob now sets up a super-powerful new fence charger, that can deliver a whopping 2000 volts.

4. And finally, he gets a little present sent to him in the mail, courtesy of his loving wife: a scarecrow, and a critter gitter….Note the evil glee on his face:

5. Bob spends Saturday night after the market setting up the battle ground.

For those of you who prefer to see a video simulation of Bob’s anticipated Bear Victory, here’s a short YouTube video showing how it all plays out (in his mind):Bob’s Great Bear Battle
So far, no bear…that we know of. But maybe it got scared off by Nicky’s hairballs???