Legal. As long as the hives were not placed there for the purpose of attracting bear.
I was told 2 years ago that shooting bears over beehives was the "only legal method for baiting bears".
This was in response to my specific question as to whether it was considered baiting which I posed to the CO of the Mill Creek WDFW division. I was having problem bears destroying my hives. I tried to get them, but they wouldn't show up until after dark. You must still adhere to legal hunting hours.
