I had a call from a landowner about my bees. It seems that he had left a gate open to a closed area in which I have a colony. Normally I have anywhere from one to ten colonies at this location. I moved all but one back to my main apiary for the winter and just haven’t gotten around to moving them back.

Back to the story. A big black bear had entered the area and just knocked my one hive over. Didn’t destroy anything and apparently lost interest and went on through another open gate into his yard. The owner said that the tracks were the largest ones he had ever seen.

If a bear finds a way into your apiary, then he will remember it for a long time. I hope that with the gate closed, he will lose interest in my location. There is 2 things I have to think about. 1) Do I keep my bees there any more? or, 2) Do I erect a bear fence with a solar battery? That is a question I will have to wait to answer. I restacked the hive and I am going to leave the hive there to see if the bear will come back. That is a good location for Palmetto honey. Five colonies are marked to be transported there in the next week.

Palmetto honey has a nutty taste to some people. I haven’t had the chance to taste it so I don’t know first hand. This will be my first crop. I will post again if I am lucky enough to harvest some.

Try to get several kinds of honey to give your customers a choice. It makes good sense and cents because sometimes they will buy two or three different types just for variety.