A bear-y unusual culprit may be responsible for damaging several beehives in Aberdeen. Moore County beekeeper Donald Dees believes a black bear is behind two instances of damage to his hives in what he says is an unusually rare encounter in more than a decade of keeping bees.
While giving a military service member a tour of several bee yards, Dees arrived at one of his apiaries near Bethesda Road and Saunders Boulevard and found four hives knocked over “like dominoes.” Another hive had been pushed over in a different direction.
Dee’s first suspicion was that strong winds were to blame after discovering the toppled hives. At first, the damage appeared minimal, and he was able to stand the hives back up.
It wasn’t until he noticed broken frames and wax pulled from inside the hive that he briefly considered the possibility of a bear.
“I’d seen pictures of bear damage before, but usually the hives are scattered everywhere,” Dees said. “This didn’t look like that.”
Two days later, Dees received another call that a hive at the same location had been overturned. This time, the damage was far more extensive.
Frames were scattered across the ground, brood comb containing developing bees had been torn apart, and honey frames were broken and missing.
As Dees began his investigation, another beekeeper told Dees that bears often target brood comb because of its high protein content.
Dees said their suspicions were confirmed not long after. While surveying the damage, Dees found a hive frame that contained what he described as a nearly perfect paw print pressed into the wax, along with claw marks puncturing the comb.
“You could see where the claws went right through the wax,” Dees said. “The spacing matched a bear’s foot.”
Dees, owner of Dees Bees Apiary, LLC, has been keeping bees for 11 years and said bear damage is extremely uncommon in Moore County.
“In all the years I’ve been keeping bees, I’ve only heard of one other beekeeper losing a hive to a bear, and another incident was probably 13 years ago,” he said. “It’s not something that happens often.”
Dees shared photos of a paw print and damage on social media.
According to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, black bears are uncommon in the Sandhills, including Moore County, but sightings have increased as the state’s bear population continues expanding into central North Carolina. Wildlife biologists say transient bears have now been documented in every county in the state, particularly during late spring and early summer as young males search for new territory.
Bears in the Sandhills aren’t entirely unheard of in recent times. In 2024, a Southern Pines resident even shared Ring camera footage of a black bear up close and personal on their front porch.
While Dees believes habitat changes may have contributed to the encounter, he understands the bear was simply behaving naturally.
“I’m not upset at the bear,” he said, spirits high. “With all the deforestation recently, they’ve probably had to change their travel routes.”
While it may be a sticky situation, rather than becoming frustrated, Dees is focusing his energy on what remains of the damaged hives.
He spent the rest of the day strapping down hive boxes and relocating surviving colonies to another yard in case the bear returned. Although two colonies suffered damage, enough bees survived that he expects to rebuild them by transferring them into smaller hive boxes. He also has extra queen bees available if either colony needs one.
“The upside is it’s not some person doing the damage,” Dees said. “It’s a natural event.”
Fortunately, Dees had already harvested most of this season’s honey about three weeks earlier. Although he lost equipment and brood frames, he expects the colonies and hives can be repaired and return to production next year. If conditions allow, the bees may even produce a fall honey crop.
If you can bearly wait to get your paws on Dees Bees honey, visit www.deesbeeshoney.com for more information.
Abegail Murphy | Assistant Editor
Written by Sandhills Sentinel assistant editor Abegail Murphy. Abegail has been writing for Sandhills Sentinel since 2021.
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