On Oct. 22, at 1:30 a.m., Betsy Evans and Dick Cleveland were awakened by the sounds of commotion outside their home on Hopkins Hill Road in Newcastle. After grabbing a powerful flashlight and looking out the porch windows, they spied a black bear taking a late night snack from one of their beehives.
It had knocked the hive over and was proceeding to eat the frames of honey the bees had stored as winter food. After a few yells, the bear ambled off and away from the house.
The next day, Dick donned a bee suit and put the hive back together, but the very next night the bear returned again for some more honey from the hive.
Thinking the bear would return again and noting an opportunity to observe the bear closer, Betsy and Dick called in son, Ed Seidel, who set up an infrared camera with motion sensor. This captured the nocturnal intruder in the following images, which shows the bear in the midst of having a snack starting right around midnight.
Dick Vose, past president of the Knox/Lincoln County Beekeepers (www.klcbee.com), said he had never ever heard of bears bothering bees in this area before. He suggested Betsy and Dick contact the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for a recommendation.
Jim Connolly, Regional Wildlife Biologist for the IF&W said bears will often come after bee hives this time of year. The only way to deter them is with an electric fence or by playing a radio near the hives to keep the bears away.
A video of the bear can be seen at http://vimeo.com/7234438.
