How to Protect Beehives from Predators

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by Ross Conrad
Temporary and portable, fiberglass electric fence posts like those commonly used for livestock are a low-cost option when trying to deter bears from invading your apiary. Note the backup straps around each hive.

Learn how to protect beehives from predators using these strategies to protect your hives from raccoons, skunks, mice, and bears.

Many of the creatures in the animal world that wield offensive weapons–poison glands or powerful claws and teeth–are colored conspicuously to warn potential adversaries to leave them alone. The bee’s striped colors are effective in advertising such a message, so much so that other insects such as the drone fly and bumblebee moth, both stingless creatures, manage to evade the attention of many predators because they possess coloration similar to that of bees. When looks are not enough to deter a would-be predator, the honey bee has the capacity to resort to a cooperative team effort in an attempt to discourage a marauder. Despite the intimidating defense a beehive can muster, however, a number of animals have developed defenses and strategies that allow them to feast on a hive’s contents.

Skunks and Raccoons and Bears, Oh My!

Although not normally considered a major threat to the honey bee, skunks (Mephitis mephitis) can weaken strong hives and cause lethal damage to already weakened colonies. The skunk is renowned for scratching around the hive entrance, swatting the bees that come out to see what all the fuss is about, and then contentedly munching on them in their dazed and injured state. Skunks are active primarily at dusk and dawn from late autumn through early spring. Signs that skunks have been dining on your tab include scratch marks around hive entrances, matted grass and scratched-up earth in front of hives, skunk tracks, and small piles of feces in and around the bee yard that resemble cat droppings, but contain bee parts. However, the very first signal that skunks have made your bee yard a regular stop on their rounds is often the dozen or so bees that start buzzing around your head with a tone of angered annoyance as soon as you show up. Colonies that are molested by skunks, or anything else, on a regular basis will tend to be very jumpy and behave in a highly irritable manner.

Although much less prevalent, raccoons (Procyon lotor) have been known to cause damage in the apiary. Though known to feed on insects, the raccoon is more likely to reach up under stacks of empty supers stored in an apiary and rip apart the frames of comb for a sweet snack. The raccoon closely resembles the bear but is not large enough to knock over hives and rip apart supers filled with bees and honey. Damaged frames of drawn comb removed from stacks of empty equipment and scattered around the bee yard, with occupied hives left untouched, is a potential sign that raccoons have been at work.

  • Updated on Feb 27, 2023
  • Originally Published on Jan 14, 2016
Tagged with: beehive, beekeeping, bees
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