For as long as there have been bears and honeybees, bears have ravaged hives for honey as well as bee larvae and pupae. In a practice called forest beekeeping, early beekeepers in northern Europe purposefully created hollowed-out tree trunks to attract wild swarms. To prevent bears from robbing these hives, anti-bear contraptions such as the one illustrated in this 1774 German book, Oeconomische encyclopädie, oder Allgemeines System der Land-, Haus-, und Staats-wirthschaft by Johann Georg Krünitz, were constructed.

One bear, trying to raid a bees' nest (door in tree marked "a"), has released a counterweight and been swung aloft. If the archer hits his mark, the bear should fall on the array of spikes below. A second bear is approaching nest "b," where the trap is set but not sprung.