It’s almost done! We’re waiting for the ground rods, then we can set up the charger and go live. Inside, there is room for 36 production honey bee colonies and our queen breeding operation. If we want to expand and have the energy for more, they will have to go into an out apiary.

Did I mention bears love honey? They also have a better nose than a dog, are very intelligent, and are strong enough to tear apart an entire apiary in one night. The stuff beekeeper nightmares are made of, especially if your bees are near a forested area like ours are.
Up until now, we have been lucky, but the small number of colonies we had were easily replaceable, compared to the cost of a fence. Not so anymore.

Starting this Summer, the size of our apiary will more than double. Replacing the bees alone would cost thousands, not to mention the hours and hours of work building hives, and nurturing the girls to get to this point. Now the fence is a necessary investment.

Bears are normally pretty shy and retiring creatures, that would sooner avoid human contact if possible. If their food supply is cut off, or if their habitat is destroyed, however, they will roam, and become scavengers of opportunity.

The woods in our area are being clear cut pretty heavily, so I expect a lot of bears will be looking for new digs. Couple that with most humans self-isolating, and our bee yards and garbage cans could become a bear smorgasbord.
Not this apiary, and not this year, anyway.