Bears from mountain Baba became a serious threat to Bitola beekeepers. In search of food, they often feast on baskets with honey, inflicting great damage to apiaries. Beekeepers say that even the sirens which they put beside the baskets do not stop the uninvited guests.
These days, for the fourth time this winter, the hives of the beekeeper Mende Nikolovski, located near Strezhevo Lake, suffered.
Bear entered apiary with more than 90 hives, feasted on several of them and made a big mess.
– A bear entered our apiary for four times before the New Year. We put a fence with woven wire, but it is not a problem for it. It feasts on hives, but it also causes a lot of damage when it flips hives, bees die in the rain and cold – says Nikolovski.
After the last attack, the young beekeeper already instilled a reflector and siren that are activated with a motion sensor and on every noise in the enclosure of the apiary. He hopes that he would be left alone by the brown bears for some time at least.
For previous entries about the harm of the bear in his apiary, he is conducting litigation, which should be completed soon.
– We are waiting for Court of Appeal to make a decision on the damage for the previous three entries of the bear. When the commission came for an inspection, according to the measurement of traces of paws, it is probably one and the same bear – says Nikolovski.
Beekeepers from Bitola region say that, due to frequent bear attacks, it is already impossible to keep hives in yards of the villages under Pelister, especially in the Nizhe pole, Dragosh, Strezhevo, even in Demir Hisar. Also, several days ago, bears attacked beehives in the area Chagor, causing a damage of several thousand euros.
This winter there is no problem with diseases in bees. One kilogram of honey is sold from 280 to 300 denars.
