I haven't been out to check the out apiaries yet and we had a really wild and windy night here.
My 8 apideas are still on the shelf at the back of the shed.
I haven't been out to check the out apiaries yet and we had a really wild and windy night here.
My 8 apideas are still on the shelf at the back of the shed.
Been pretty bad here. 2 power cuts but thankfully overnight.
Just checked my hives and the only thing was one with the roof partly blown off. My fault for only putting one brick on top.
The hive itself is the heaviest of all this winter. Last week weighed 32 kgs (approx) with roof off. It never moved.
Last edited by Black Comb; 27-12-2013 at 05:33 PM.
Just checked bees at the association apiary. One polynuc had lost its roof - was a brick short of a load on that one. The bees were still alive so probably no harm done.
A stack of empty broods and supers had blown over as well.
Branches down everywhere and the river is in spate.
Well we've got off lightly here. Been in the eye of the storm and the winds have been light apart from a gust or two last night. Hope the rest of you and your bees are safe.
A mighty wind
Just seen pictures of Portland. What's the name of the guy who has an apiary there. The winds and waves were so strong they knocked over stacks in the sea and the Chesil bank has been flattened. There was a great tin beach cafe there and they had oyster beds as well. Terrible storms poor things. I hope his bees have survived.
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I'm meant to be taking life easy as a 'lurker', but it would be rude not to reply...Originally Posted by Bridget
Thanks for the kind thoughts, we've certainly had 'some weather' this winter.
I'm pleased to say that all of our colonies in their clifftop homes are fine, looking good so far, mind we do make liberal use of large slabs of Portland stone to keep them in place. If anything, at the moment, I'm more concerned about an inland apiary on the side of a pond which I won't be able to get to untill Saturday.
This winter is proving an excellent test for our homemade economy miniplus hives; correx floor, OSB3 box and a single slab of kingspan for the roof.
And again today Prakel enormous waves pounding the Chesil Bank. Hope the hives survive this storm as well. Mine are just feeling the cold. Not been out for months and the the temp never been higher than 7degrees and usually a lot less.
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Very windy in the Midlands as well … a stack of 24 supers were blown over (3 x 8 high, not a single stack!) and some of the poly ones took a bit of a beating. There were still a few hardy bees flying.
Yet again, we've come through without any casualties. Well, we did loose a Lyson mating nuc early in the week -to a gang of horses that broke through the fence-line in search of shelter so that's technically a loss to the storms I suppose. The box itself stood up well, solid bits of kit, so I'm not going to cry over the loss.
I did raid the gym for 10kg plates to add to the stones on top of each box as an extra precaution, no easy task with a right hand that's still out of use. That's the problem with these all-terrain Armstrong Hive Lifters; sourcing spare parts is a nightmare.
Last edited by prakel; 09-02-2014 at 11:47 AM.
Good that you're surviving the challenging weather. Up here we've had it windy and wet for a while, but obviously not as bad as the SW. Today is sunny and yesterday wasn't too bad either.
The gym? 10kg plates?! I wonder what things, other than bricks, blocks and Orkney stone people use to keep their hives in place.
It is good to know that there are useful aids to lift hive parts when we have a need such as infirmity, age or a sudden dearth of beginners keen to help out! Although I have to say it is a while since I've had to deal with a high stack of boxes. Is this an Armstrong Hive Lift?
G.
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