Beehives, Bees and Bears, Oh My!! Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

TheInterpreter: Because the road this cache has been on was recently privatized by the town, I am archiving this cache.
PLEASE do not attempt to find this cache! There is a locked gate where the dirt road starts leading to the original cache spot, and if you cross it, you will be on a private, posted road and land!
The cache has been removed, but if you have found the cache before it has been archived, you should still be able to log your find.
Thanks to all who attempted and found this cache!

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Hidden : 5/29/2010
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
3.5 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

Because the road this cache has been on was recently privatized by the town, I am archiving this cache.
PLEASE do not attempt to find this cache! There is a locked gate where the dirt road starts leading to the original cache spot, and if you cross it, you will be on a private, posted road and land!
The cache has been removed, but if you have found the cache before it has been archived, you should still be able to log your find.

This cache was placed with permission from the land owner. It’s on a dirt road that dead ends & from Spring to Fall is at times used extensively by farm machinery.
Although you can drive to the cache, be prepared to move your vehicle or possibly drive to the main road to allow large machinery to pass. Most of the time, it is peaceful. This cache may be difficult in winter/wet times, & may require hiking to the spot if the road is not plowed/too wet. Terrain rating is for cache resting spot.

This is my first cache ever published, and I wanted to make it a tribute to those I’ve followed for the last year or so through Geocaching, and through Bear.org.
This cache commemorates my first Breakfast with the Beehive, and also allows everyone to learn a little something about the Black Bears that are growing more numerous in our area (plus a smidgen of local history too!).
Please take the time to read this cache page and also to visit www.bear.org either before or after you run for the cache, but I suggest you print it out & take it with you in case you want to investigate the waypoints.

Coordinates above will take you to the cache site, which should be an easy find for most of you Bees, although you’ll do a little bushwacking for a few feet (don’t let the thorny trees getcha!). There's plenty of poison ivy around, and since this is the 3rd time I’ve had to place this cache, I gave up looking for a poison ivy-free spot…sorry. Being my first cache, if the coords are off, I’ll be sure to change them if ya’ll let me know. You are looking for a large camo’d Lock n Lock container. Please hide it as good or better than you found it.
PLEASE NO NIGHT CACHING! Also, hours for Letchworth State Park are 6am til 11pm

**FIRST TO FIND gets a beautiful carved bear-cub-in-a-tree pen from the Letchworth State Park Gift Shop.**

******CONGRATULATIONS TO LUCKY46 ON BEING ZE FAIRST TO FIND, NOO??!!! OUIIIII!!!******

Now, for the waypoints of interest:

Waypoint #1:
Just as you arrive, look to your left, just before the road veers right. You will see a very small grassy opening—which is near my original cache spot. Back in that little area, there are occasionally some beehives. A few years ago, a bear or two decided to have breakfast, and more than politely helped themselves to the hives. The land owner was not sure if the hive owner would try to place the hives back again this year, but said that it is a prime spot for when the Goldenrod appears. Depending on the time of year, you may spot some hives here, but PLEASE do NOT go near to have breakfast should you see our bee friends at work!
Bears have been spotted since, especially in the surrounding area. Even though the bears are not the ferocious creatures historically portrayed, I have placed the cache away from the hive area, just to make sure they don’t think it’s their lunchbox (and to keep it away from State land). More about the bear is below waypoint #2 & 3.

Waypoints #2 & #3:
***WARNING: GETTING TO THESE WAYPOINTS REQUIRES SOME SERIOUS BUSHWACKING, although there are parts where it clears some. PLEASE BE SURE TO FIND A PARKING SPOT THAT IS OUT OF THE WAY IN CASE FARM EQUIPMENT MUST GET PAST YOU. Thanks!***
Just beyond the spot where the beehives are, Letchworth State Park begins. You will see the signs on the trees that mark the park boundary. If you enter the park and go to the listed coords of WP#2, you will see remnants of an old stone wall. WP#3 is also a stone wall (or foundation, I’m not sure). The spot where the beehives are is where the current road actually went into the park. You will be able to hear the cars on the park road below you. There were two houses somewhere in that vicinity; I found an old beam near the beehives, but the one house was supposed to be on the other side of the road (South). I’m not sure if I found a stone wall that flanked the road, or if it was part of a foundation. I didn’t see any signs of a house, but then again, these houses were active in the early to mid 1800’s. My goal is to one day locate the house foundation for a man named Dow Clute. He lived somewhere in the area of these waypoints, and he was a War of 1812 veteran (he died June 7, 1864 at age 100y and 3mo!). I did find an old dark brown glass Clorox bottle, an old metal bucket, and something a little newer: an older plastic child’s rocking horse…seemed quite out of place! If you decide to explore this part of the park and would like to see the old maps I have, I’d be happy to show them to you. I love the history of this particular area; there were quite a few people that lived on this back dirt road. I’m sure they saw plenty of bear here! In fact, I think I may have seen some bear scat while trekking this area. I’m hoping to place another cache in the same vicinity someday, with more history of this area.

NOW, MORE ABOUT THOSE BEARS:

Back in December of 2009, I learned about www.bear.org through a friend. I joined thousands of people who became obsessed watching a bear named Lily. Researchers at the North American Bear Center had placed a video camera at the opening of Lily’s den, and then streamed the video live, 24/7 over the internet. We all tuned in every chance we could to watch Lily as she not only “hibernated,” but also prepared for the birth of her cub. On Jan 22, 2010, at about 12:30pm, I had the EXTREME pleasure of watching at the very moment Lily gave birth to her daughter, Hope. View the video of the birth here: (visit link)

I have learned SO much about black bears from this experience! Please go to the website, www.bear.org. Check out the live pond cam (as I was writing this, there were 2 bear at the pond, plus a researcher giving them a treat, plus some rats trying to steal the food!). On the menu at the top, check out the Lily and Hope section, or move your curser over “Bear Pages”, and check out the interesting facts on these beautiful creatures.
The researchers at NABC have been able to do extensive research on the black bear that roam wild. They have become so accepted by them, that they are able to walk among them, observe them, even put gps collars and take heart rates, all without tranquilizing the still wild animals!
You can even follow the updates, which are sometimes daily, about not only Lily and Hope, but the other bears in the study, by subscribing either with Facebook ( search for Lily the Black Bear), or after finding Lily on Facebook, you can subscribe to an RSS service to get the updates that way.

I hope this information helps to educate people about black bear. They are beautiful animals, and now that they are more prevalent in our area, we have the opportunity to appreciate them fully thru research that the Bear Center has done. Enjoy the cache, and I’ll leave you with some excerpts from the bear website:

Greatest misconception: The greatest misconception about black bears is that they are likely to attack people in defense of cubs. They are highly unlikely to do this. Black bear researchers often capture screaming cubs in the presence of bluff-charging mothers with no attacks.

Defense of cubs is a grizzly bear trait. About 70 percent of human deaths from grizzly bears are from mothers defending cubs, but black bear mothers have not been known to kill anyone in defense of cubs.

What if I see a black bear? This is probably the most common question we hear. The standard answer nationwide is, "Speak calmly and back away slowly." This is good advice. It identifies you as a person, shows that you are non-threatening, and gives the bear space.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Abar arrqrq.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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