The evidence is plain to see, God doesn't like poly hives....Originally Posted by gavin
Hope that things are back to normal for you Gerry. Yesterday saw a flurry of activity at the Edinburgh and Midlothian BA apiary after this happened. Read more about it on their new Facebook page. This is it after a rescue operation that even included finding and re-hiving the queen and workers from the most damaged hive.
Bleedin hell Gavin that's terrible! Still no power at home. We have decamped to the inlaws - hopefully back on later today.
Jeez - I'm amazed they were able to rescue anything from that! I checked up on my 2 sites today. Luckily they were all upright and unharmed. Good job as Desensitisation starts Monday - so they are a no go for me till Mid March at least.
That was some storm was it not Gavin. Luckily someone was on hand to sort out the mess. I'm very pleased you were able to rescue the queen and her colony - hope they make it thro the rest of the winter. So far so good here, my polyhives have come thro' o.k. but I have substituted deep wooden roofs for the swienty ones when I set them up for the winter. If the wind drops and the sun shines , the odd hive has been bringing in a bit of pollen. I think the up and down weather and temperatures are unsettling them and they're not clustering properly - the queens are being encouraged to lay more eggs ,I hope it all settles down soon.
Very strong winds this morning. I had one of the swienty plastic lids blow off despite having 3 very heavy bricks on top . the wind just got underneath the shallow rim, flipped the lid up and sliding the bricks off. I had to walk the length of my garden to retrieve it ( a couple of hundred yards). I have now replaced it with a standard metal roof plus bricks. the bees weren't affected as I watched it happen and re-roofed them immediately. The rotten sycamore tree from which I salvage my smoker fuel has finally blown flat so I'll have to store the whole lot now instead of just breaking off bits as I need them.
Drumgerry and I have been having a discussion regarding clearing snow from hives in this weather. Even a bee house gets a build up of snow and ice round the entrances so I have been carefully clearing them. In photos you can see the entrances (with slates protecting the entrances from strong wind and against bright sun combined with snow) are well covered. On removal of the slates my two smaller colonies were completely covered with snow and some ice on the landing board. The strongest colony of the three has generated enough heat to keep the entrance clear although there was ice from the melted snow building up. Drumgerry says in the States hives can be completely covered in snow in winter for some time and still survive. I think we have to contend with wind driving the heavy wet snow into the entrances and I prefer to be safe than sorry. Any thoughts?
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I'm hoping from your post Bridget that your power's back on now?!
Yep I'd be interested to hear what other members think as well. From my own point of view I don't see the harm in clearing the snow but I've always thought snow coverage was ok for beehives. I may be wrong!
The US beekeeper I was thinking of re the complete burial of hives in snow was Mike Palmer. I'm sure I remember him using pics (in one of the talks of his that are online) of him walking around on snow under which are alive and healthy bee colonies.
My experience with snowed in hives is the following: If the snow doesn't freeze, then just leave it, as air can pass through, and the bees will be clustered and not wanting to go out.
On the other hand, if the snow freezes, then there will be danger of eventual suffocation. In this case, I clear the snow at the entrance, but leave the slate in place. Like this, the snow "luminosity" doesn't disturb the bees.
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Last edited by chris; 16-01-2015 at 09:41 AM.
Another winter's day here in the South
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Thanks Chris I'll keep clearing as you can't tell here what's going on till you clear them. Today despite the slates shading the sun and snow glare some of the little blighters had decided to go for a spin with the inevitable results at -2 degrees
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