This system this person shows is nothing more than a 12 volt battery, no charge at all, I have tried a few different kinds & none of them work, only a 12 gauge with slugs will solve that problem, fixed mine where that damn fence wouldn't keep a puppy out.
The system shown here will give you a very serious shock if you touch both the hot and ground wire which is what a bear does when he tries to go through. How strong the charger is (30 mile rating or better) and the ground wire in the middle are the key.
@@bobbinnie9872 your trying to sell a product that doesnt work, everyone who has tried electric fences knows this, its not the miles like your trying to sell its the amperage that does the job, not miles, 🤣, the ground wire makes no difference in its location, the trick is to have grounding rods around your perimeter of fence about every 30 yards.
@Ron Ringwald Hello Ron. First let me say that I'm not trying to sell anybody anything. If you were to watch many of my videos or listen to my talks at beekeeping conventions you would see that I generally suggest to others that they gather information from a number of sources and create a system that works best for them. In this case I'm offering information gathered from my experiences building bear fences over thirty years. At times it seems like we live in bear central and bears are constantly testing our fences. Sign is everywhere. I currently have more than thirty fences in operation and have built more than I can count. Lot's of mistakes as you can imagine. You're correct in that amps is what does the shocking but an easy way to judge a charger is mileage rating. I suppose more miles means more amps. I'm not an expert with electricity, perhaps you are. I've tried every type of charger under the sun and have found that a fifteen mile rating is barely ample for bears and anything less is not good enough. I have many good fifteen mile chargers sitting in my work shop gathering dust because I won't use them anymore. I've had bears go through several times with those. Any charger I've tried with a thirty mile rating or more that is working correctly ALWAYS turns a bear back provided I have a wire in the middle of the fence hooked directly to the array of ground rods. The reason for the ground wire is simple. If the earth is dry on the surface the bear WILL NOT get the same grounding that a wire hooked to the ground rods will provide. Some beekeepers spread chicken wire or wire fencing out on the ground and hook it up to the ground rods to get the same affect. Last summer an employee and I accidentally touched a hot and ground wire at the same time on a system like the one shown in the video and it took us a minute to gain back enough composure to go back to work. I can assure you, that shock was no joke.
@@bobbinnie9872 What can we do? We have lost 4 hives due to a neighbor feeding them for people to hunt. It’s my back part and the bear walks away like nothing. I want to shock him so bad he will never come back. It seems like our back does not work.
@@MeInYshua7 The system described here, if built right, would work if you were to put it in a bear reserve. The points in my response to Ron Ringwald's comment are valid. A hot charger rated at 30 miles or more with the right fence will do it. There are also some other good videos on bear fences for bees on TH-cam. Good luck.
We run a similar setup in N Idaho. Dandy dry soil here so Instead of using insulators for the center wire, we wrap it to the rebar supports posts with zip ties This allows our rebar posts act as ground rods. The only insulators we use for the center wire is in the corner t posts.
When it comes to fence chargers, joules rule. The higher the joule rating, the nastier the shock. For bears, 20 joules or more will send a painful message. High fence voltage (> 7000V) ensures that the intruder gets a full dose, even in dry conditions. A center wire ground is an excellent means of achieving this.
Three cubs cool You definately need the ground wire as well if the ground is dry dry . Im playing russian roulette in my pasture no bear fence and we live in bear country Usually if you shoot a bear more move into the area . Thanks for the video
Freakin’ Dow had 3 cubs. Back in the day she would be lucky to feed 2. Enough. We need to tell our legislators to ease up on bear hunting restrictions.
we never had any bears here until about ten yrs ago, now they are a pain in the bee yards. an electric fence has to be put up with the first wire about 5 inches from the ground and a wire every 5 inches up to about four feet, if a bear gets their head thru and then gets a shock, they will go right on thru. I had a sow here with three cubs a couple yrs ago and they had a party, the cubs got their heads thru and just kept going when shocked
Mr. Binnie, could you please do a step-by-step video setting this up (for us electrical illiterates)? Edit: sorry, dang autocorrect always misspells your last name as Bonnie.
We do use those units but I guess one hasn't showed up in a video. They work good but aren't as strong if they get shorted out for some reason like a dropped branch over the fence. The batteries don't last as long as the marine batteries we use and the overall price is at least as much as our units if not more.
You mention your height is easily stepped over. Most all sites say to make it 5 foot high. It has been several years since this video, but have you kept your fence height low? You mentioned keeping the first wire on the low side as well to catch skunks or opossums, about how high do you put each of the wires? Do you run a line of roundup along the fence to keep the weeds down or is that done manually? Thanks for all the great videos.
My early fences were very high with many strands.Our fences slowly evolved to be lower and lower and lower. It finally dawned on me that bears never try to jump over a fence but try to push through them or dig under them. We've been using these low fences for over twenty years now and as long as things are in good operating condition we never have a bear go through them. We use a weed eater to keep things trimmed. The first wire is usually the length of a hive tool or slightly less off the ground.
Hi Bob, I noticed that you use rebar as stake/posts. Seeing that they are driven into the ground, do you attach the ground wire to these rebars at certain intervals to ensure good grounding all around? Look forward to seeing you at Hive Life 3 this January. Craig Fr. VA / SML Bees.
Hi Craig. We are blessed (or not) with ground that is consistently moist under the surface so one ground rod along with the ground wire in the middle of the fence hooked up to it is very effective. I know that drier areas benefit from multiple ground rods but it's rarely needed here.
Hi Bob. Could you make a video that shows how you actually connect the wires to the ground and to the chargers showing the hook up to what you call the hot wire? Thanks.
Hey Bob. I know this is an old video so hopefully you see this comment. We’ve been having more and more bear problems up here the last couple years. About how often do you have to charge the battery on one that doesn’t use a solar panel?
Hi Andrew. We use group 27 marine batteries and the newer ones last about a month. We try to get them switched out within three weeks to make sure they don't go dead. P.S. I saw your uncle Loyd this morning. He hauled a load in for me.
I know this isn't a very good look at things and I need to redo it. The solar panel is wired through the regulator to make sure the battery doesn't get over charged and the charger is hooked up to the battery.
Does the joules settings on the fence chargers need to be a certain amount for bears? When you look at these fence charger kits they are typically quoting a certain joules and load voltage, etc. But they aren't all the same stats. And some companies want so much money for the higher end models, that your car payment is smaller than what they want for them. Thanks for the video. I think this video will help a lot of people. Probably already has.
Hi Noah. A simple way of judging the power of a charger is the mileage it is rated for. The chargers we use state that on them. We have found that chargers rated for 30 miles or more work best for bears.
My current fencer isn't very powerful, so I smear some peanut butter or suet in aluminum foil and wrap the foil around the wires. Hopefully they get shocked in the mouth first.
I really need your help I am sick of the bears getting my hives. We have an electric fence wire lines but they go through it like nothing. Please Please tell me what to do.
The key for us is to have a charger rated at 30 miles or more, a center wire hooked to the grounding system and multiple ground rods if it is not a moist area.
If we don't have a solar panel on the fence we swap them out every few weeks and charge them on a trickle charger. We have a number of extra batteries for this.
Chargers generally run between 2000 and 8000 volts with 10,000 being the legal limit. 2000 is near the minimum voltage to deter a bear although it's really a mater of how much amperage they have behind them. I have chargers that put out 3500 volts that shock worse than some that are 7000.
I'll bet that fence would keep skunks and possums out also. We have problems with skunks at night teasing the bees to come out and they chew them up and spit out the roughage. After a week or two the colony gets low on population.
If the bottom wire is close to the ground it will. We have the same problem on colonies close to the ground such as those on pallets. When colonies are high enough that the skunks have to stretch up the bees will sting their belly and there isn't a problem. Tack strips on the entrance can also help.
We purchase the regulators on Amazon. They are to keep the battery from over charging. We just look at the reviews of what's offered and pick one that looks good. They are not very expensive, the last ones we got were around$18.00. Good luck.
@@bobbinnie9872 I think it has to do with how long a charge lasts, but I'm glad it's not a big deal. What specs do you look for in a marine battery? Any particular size, etc.?
We use "Turbo Wire" from Jeffers Vet Supply. Easy to use and reuse and works well. www.jefferspet.com/categories/farm-ranch/farm-ranch-supplies/fencing-gates-accessories/wire-tape
Maybe I am ignorant but why do you keep using the word “miles” when referring to electrical shock ? As far as I know there are Volts, Resistance and Current and an electrical shock is actually the movement of electrons through a conductor which is known as Current which is actually measured in Amperes or Joules ! !
The stronger the charger the the more miles of fence it is rated for. In our experience, anything rated for thirty miles of fence or more is strong enough to work for bears.
This system this person shows is nothing more than a 12 volt battery, no charge at all, I have tried a few different kinds & none of them work, only a 12 gauge with slugs will solve that problem, fixed mine where that damn fence wouldn't keep a puppy out.
The system shown here will give you a very serious shock if you touch both the hot and ground wire which is what a bear does when he tries to go through. How strong the charger is (30 mile rating or better) and the ground wire in the middle are the key.
@@bobbinnie9872 your trying to sell a product that doesnt work, everyone who has tried electric fences knows this, its not the miles like your trying to sell its the amperage that does the job, not miles, 🤣, the ground wire makes no difference in its location, the trick is to have grounding rods around your perimeter of fence about every 30 yards.
@Ron Ringwald Hello Ron. First let me say that I'm not trying to sell anybody anything. If you were to watch many of my videos or listen to my talks at beekeeping conventions you would see that I generally suggest to others that they gather information from a number of sources and create a system that works best for them.
In this case I'm offering information gathered from my experiences building bear fences over thirty years. At times it seems like we live in bear central and bears are constantly testing our fences. Sign is everywhere. I currently have more than thirty fences in operation and have built more than I can count. Lot's of mistakes as you can imagine.
You're correct in that amps is what does the shocking but an easy way to judge a charger is mileage rating. I suppose more miles means more amps. I'm not an expert with electricity, perhaps you are. I've tried every type of charger under the sun and have found that a fifteen mile rating is barely ample for bears and anything less is not good enough. I have many good fifteen mile chargers sitting in my work shop gathering dust because I won't use them anymore. I've had bears go through several times with those. Any charger I've tried with a thirty mile rating or more that is working correctly ALWAYS turns a bear back provided I have a wire in the middle of the fence hooked directly to the array of ground rods. The reason for the ground wire is simple. If the earth is dry on the surface the bear WILL NOT get the same grounding that a wire hooked to the ground rods will provide. Some beekeepers spread chicken wire or wire fencing out on the ground and hook it up to the ground rods to get the same affect.
Last summer an employee and I accidentally touched a hot and ground wire at the same time on a system like the one shown in the video and it took us a minute to gain back enough composure to go back to work. I can assure you, that shock was no joke.
@@bobbinnie9872 What can we do? We have lost 4 hives due to a neighbor feeding them for people to hunt. It’s my back part and the bear walks away like nothing. I want to shock him so bad he will never come back. It seems like our back does not work.
@@MeInYshua7 The system described here, if built right, would work if you were to put it in a bear reserve. The points in my response to Ron Ringwald's comment are valid. A hot charger rated at 30 miles or more with the right fence will do it. There are also some other good videos on bear fences for bees on TH-cam. Good luck.
We run a similar setup in N Idaho. Dandy dry soil here so Instead of using insulators for the center wire, we wrap it to the rebar supports posts with zip ties This allows our rebar posts act as ground rods. The only insulators we use for the center wire is in the corner t posts.
That works good and we occasionally do that ourselves if the soil isn't to dry. In locations with that potential we use a long ground rod.
When it comes to fence chargers, joules rule. The higher the joule rating, the nastier the shock. For bears, 20 joules or more will send a painful message. High fence voltage (> 7000V) ensures that the intruder gets a full dose, even in dry conditions. A center wire ground is an excellent means of achieving this.
Best place for electric fence supplies on southern New England is Union Bee Company, can't beat the prices!
All questions gone.. Thank you so much.. Good bless you..
Thank you.
Three cubs cool
You definately need the ground wire as well if the ground is dry dry .
Im playing russian roulette in my pasture no bear fence and we live in bear country
Usually if you shoot a bear more move into the area .
Thanks for the video
Of course you would never see the mama bear again.
She'll just send the little ones to scoot under the fence and grab the goodies !!
Is it possible for you to provide us your preferred wiring diagram?
Freakin’ Dow had 3 cubs. Back in the day she would be lucky to feed 2. Enough. We need to tell our legislators to ease up on bear hunting restrictions.
we never had any bears here until about ten yrs ago, now they are a pain in the bee yards. an electric fence has to be put up with the first wire about 5 inches from the ground and a wire every 5 inches up to about four feet, if a bear gets their head thru and then gets a shock, they will go right on thru. I had a sow here with three cubs a couple yrs ago and they had a party, the cubs got their heads thru and just kept going when shocked
Sorry to hear about your trouble. Sounds like you know just what to do.
Mr. Binnie, could you please do a step-by-step video setting this up (for us electrical illiterates)? Edit: sorry, dang autocorrect always misspells your last name as Bonnie.
I'll try to do that. This video doesn't show that very good.
@@bobbinnie9872 it's a good starting point anyway
Hey, Bob. Any reason you don’t use the parmac magnum solar pac 12 and choose to build your own setup?
We do use those units but I guess one hasn't showed up in a video. They work good but aren't as strong if they get shorted out for some reason like a dropped branch over the fence. The batteries don't last as long as the marine batteries we use and the overall price is at least as much as our units if not more.
You mention your height is easily stepped over. Most all sites say to make it 5 foot high. It has been several years since this video, but have you kept your fence height low? You mentioned keeping the first wire on the low side as well to catch skunks or opossums, about how high do you put each of the wires? Do you run a line of roundup along the fence to keep the weeds down or is that done manually? Thanks for all the great videos.
My early fences were very high with many strands.Our fences slowly evolved to be lower and lower and lower. It finally dawned on me that bears never try to jump over a fence but try to push through them or dig under them. We've been using these low fences for over twenty years now and as long as things are in good operating condition we never have a bear go through them. We use a weed eater to keep things trimmed. The first wire is usually the length of a hive tool or slightly less off the ground.
Thank you for this video, my apiary got hit by a bear.
Hi Bob, I noticed that you use rebar as stake/posts. Seeing that they are driven into the ground, do you attach the ground wire to these rebars at certain intervals to ensure good grounding all around? Look forward to seeing you at Hive Life 3 this January. Craig Fr. VA / SML Bees.
Hi Craig. We are blessed (or not) with ground that is consistently moist under the surface so one ground rod along with the ground wire in the middle of the fence hooked up to it is very effective. I know that drier areas benefit from multiple ground rods but it's rarely needed here.
Hi Bob. Could you make a video that shows how you actually connect the wires to the ground and to the chargers showing the hook up to what you call the hot wire? Thanks.
Yes I'm hoping to make a better fence video. Thanks.
@@bobbinnie9872 Thanks it will be very appreciated.
Hey Bob. I know this is an old video so hopefully you see this comment. We’ve been having more and more bear problems up here the last couple years. About how often do you have to charge the battery on one that doesn’t use a solar panel?
Hi Andrew. We use group 27 marine batteries and the newer ones last about a month. We try to get them switched out within three weeks to make sure they don't go dead.
P.S. I saw your uncle Loyd this morning. He hauled a load in for me.
Can you show the wiring configuration for a solar setup? I need to try this. Bear kicking my butt. Thanks either way.
I know this isn't a very good look at things and I need to redo it. The solar panel is wired through the regulator to make sure the battery doesn't get over charged and the charger is hooked up to the battery.
@@bobbinnie9872 If you could do a walk through of the wiring in the box, that would be a huge help. I have until spring...
Got it done. Wiring simpler than I thought. Many thanks.
Does the joules settings on the fence chargers need to be a certain amount for bears? When you look at these fence charger kits they are typically quoting a certain joules and load voltage, etc. But they aren't all the same stats.
And some companies want so much money for the higher end models, that your car payment is smaller than what they want for them.
Thanks for the video. I think this video will help a lot of people. Probably already has.
Hi Noah. A simple way of judging the power of a charger is the mileage it is rated for. The chargers we use state that on them. We have found that chargers rated for 30 miles or more work best for bears.
Thank you.
Thank you for the Videos they are much appreciated.
Do you have to do anything additionally to deal with lightning?
Thanks again
We don't do anything special. The main problem we have with lightning is it occasionally takes out a bear fence charger.
@@bobbinnie9872 Thank you
Thank goodness I don't have to deal with bears in Atlanta, Hive beetles and varroa mites are enough..
I agree
Hi Bob - Thanks for your videos! Are you only connecting the center wire to your "ground" terminal, or is there a another separate ground rod also?
The center wire is hooked to the ground terminal and ground rod together.
Gotcha. Thanks... my brain was out of gear..
Edevaldo apicultor ✌️✌️👍👍👍👍👍
Thanks.
My current fencer isn't very powerful, so I smear some peanut butter or suet in aluminum foil and wrap the foil around the wires. Hopefully they get shocked in the mouth first.
I've heard bacon works too. Using a ground wire in the fence definitely helps also
Good luck.
@@bobbinnie9872 thanks!
I really need your help I am sick of the bears getting my hives. We have an electric fence wire lines but they go through it like nothing. Please Please tell me what to do.
The key for us is to have a charger rated at 30 miles or more, a center wire hooked to the grounding system and multiple ground rods if it is not a moist area.
Do you install a solar trickle charger on your marine batteries or just swap them out?
If we don't have a solar panel on the fence we swap them out every few weeks and charge them on a trickle charger. We have a number of extra batteries for this.
@@bobbinnie9872 thank you
One more question: what is the minimum voltage to deter a bear? My solar fencer is about 6000 volts at dusk and 2000 at dawn. Is that enough?
Chargers generally run between 2000 and 8000 volts with 10,000 being the legal limit. 2000 is near the minimum voltage to deter a bear although it's really a mater of how much amperage they have behind them. I have chargers that put out 3500 volts that shock worse than some that are 7000.
@@bobbinnie9872 that makes sense. Now I just have to figure out my amperage, or better yet just install a system that I can be 100% sure works.
@@honeydropfarm1605 I like to go by the mileage rating on the charger. 30 miles or more works best for bears.
It's less about the voltage and more about the joules. Most mfgs recommend 1.2 - 1.5 joules for black bears, this unit is 3.1 joules.
I'll bet that fence would keep skunks and possums out also. We have problems with skunks at night teasing the bees to come out and they chew them up and spit out the roughage. After a week or two the colony gets low on population.
If the bottom wire is close to the ground it will. We have the same problem on colonies close to the ground such as those on pallets. When colonies are high enough that the skunks have to stretch up the bees will sting their belly and there isn't a problem. Tack strips on the entrance can also help.
@@bobbinnie9872 Thanks for the tip.
What does the regulator do? Do you have a part number or supplier? Thanks again.
We purchase the regulators on Amazon. They are to keep the battery from over charging. We just look at the reviews of what's offered and pick one that looks good. They are not very expensive, the last ones we got were around$18.00. Good luck.
@@bobbinnie9872 Thanks for the quick reply. I'll check it out.
Are higher C ratings better for fence batteries?
I'm not very familiar with c ratings. We use marine type batteries which are rated by amp hours.
@@bobbinnie9872 I think it has to do with how long a charge lasts, but I'm glad it's not a big deal. What specs do you look for in a marine battery? Any particular size, etc.?
What is the best fence wire to use?
We use "Turbo Wire" from Jeffers Vet Supply. Easy to use and reuse and works well. www.jefferspet.com/categories/farm-ranch/farm-ranch-supplies/fencing-gates-accessories/wire-tape
@@bobbinnie9872 thank you. Happy Easter to you and your family!
Maybe I am ignorant but why do you keep using the word “miles” when referring to electrical shock ? As far as I know there are Volts, Resistance and Current and an electrical shock is actually the movement of electrons through a conductor which is known as Current which is actually measured in Amperes or Joules ! !
The stronger the charger the the more miles of fence it is rated for. In our experience, anything rated for thirty miles of fence or more is strong enough to work for bears.