animals in your life

[billy rubin]

dammit

im going to have to kill a bunch of raccoons.

im trying to feed my bees for the winter and the coons are chewing up my plasic jugs to get to the syrup.

too late this season so im expecting to lose some hives before the spring bloom. but when i start feedong next im going to have to depopulate the raccoons severely

[Ecurb Noselrub]

dammit

im going to have to kill a bunch of raccoons.

im trying to feed my bees for the winter and the coons are chewing up my plasic jugs to get to the syrup.

too late this season so im expecting to lose some hives before the spring bloom. but when i start feedong next im going to have to depopulate the raccoons severely

So, you can't protect things better?

[billy rubin]

not using the gallon cans. they just sit upside down on the lids and the cap fits through a hole into the hive. they look like this except theyre rectangualar plastic jugs



theres no way to protect them from the raccoons climbing up the beehives and knowcking them over.

its possible i might switch to division board feeders. these are a file-folder-like open top container that firts inside in place of one of the frames. not near as convenient, but its inside the beehive



even then the raccoons can knock the hive over

[Dark Lightning]

Can you build a structure to encompass them, with holes big enough for the bees, and tough enough to fight 'coons? I was at Gatorland in Florida, and there was a 13' gator in a pen. That pen was made of chain link, made from THICK wire. Thick enough to keep a gator captive. Like this, but I didn't price it. You'd probably have to bury some of it and form a cage over the whole magilla. heavy duty chain link

Fun story. A bunch of us naked apes were standing there staring at the gator and it made basso profundo growl. We all jumped, big time! 

[billy rubin]

well, an electric fence could work, but theyre high maintenance. plus i only have around 15 beehives and im on track for maybe 100. im just goi g to keep dividing until i get the bee equipment out of the warehouse and out with bees in it. id need several setups in different places.

i burned up maybe 300 empty hives after the Big Die Off, and abandoned some 300 more because i had no money for petrol to go get them. so my equipment inventory is downsized

i suspect decorating the beeyard with half a dozen dead raccoons might have the most beneficial effect. i have no sense of smell so im ahead of the game.