Awe...nuts!

bassman1977 · March 05, 2008, 10:11:47 AM

This morning as I was heading to work, I took a peek towards my hives and noticed that two of them were knocked over. :shock: In the back of my mind I was thinking bear, but it just didn't seem right. The dogs would have went nuts if there was a bear in the yard, plus, only two hives were down. So, accepting the fact that I was going to be a bit late for work, I threw my bee suit on and headed down to salvage what I could.

Once I got to the hives, it was obvious what had happened. We got so much rain over the past 48 hours that the ground got extremely soggy and the cinder blocks that my hives were sitting on, shifted, toppling the hives. The first hive I went to (the second hive from the left), was not so bad off. The inner cover was still on and all of the boxes were attached. Thank you propolis! :) Bees started pouring out as I put the hive back in it's upright position. Whew... 50% of the problem has been averted.

Now the hive furthest to the right (my one and only carniolan hive)...ugh...that hive might be a goner. :'( Everything was exposed and soaked. I got this hive back together and I noticed that there were bees moving around in some of the frames. Good sign perhaps, but time will tell. I made sure that the shims were intact so that there is plenty of top ventilation. Hopefully they'll dry themselves off.

My biggest hive (third hive from the left), which is three mediums deep, looked to be the next hive to take a spill. I shored it up, so hopefully it'll be fine until I can get home and make more permanent adjustments to the hives. The hive on the very left, looked fine.

Well, in any case, I just thought I would say something on here. I think I did what I could until I get back from work, so here's hoping it will be OK for the Carnies. :-\

woodchopper · March 05, 2008, 10:24:19 AM

Hope they didn't get too wet or chilled. My fingers are crossed for you.

Sir Stungalot · March 05, 2008, 10:30:07 AM

Strange... I had the same thing happen to me. Just last night I noticed a number of hives tilted very sharply. I walked across the field to investigate and found almost the same as you. Mushy ground from all the rain. I am glad that mine did not spill like yours did- it was close though. Reading your post makes me glad I did not put off fixing that problem...believe me, I was NOT in the mood.
Never had this happen before to me!

bassman1977 · March 05, 2008, 10:33:20 AM

QuoteNever had this happen before to me!

Yeah, this was new to me as well. I've had those hives in that same location for the last 3 1/2 years.

By the way, I meant to post the link to my hives for visual reference.

http://img178.imageshack.us/slideshow/player.php?id=img178/4853/1204579492wjw.smil

Cindi · March 05, 2008, 10:53:20 AM

Bassman1977. Oh man, what a downright darnable bummer. Just what you need when you first get up, especially on the way to work. Hope that your boss is understanding of things (or are you your own boss, hee, hee). Rain can be such a thing, we have had strange stuff happen with rain too, not to my colonies though(I did go and have a look when I read your post, but all is well, we have so much rain that I don't think the land could change anymore).

What a lot of work to have to do when you just aren't planning to do it. Sorry about that. Please let us know what has happened to the Carniolan colony. I am sure they will fare well, but they may be set back quite a bit. Bees are survivors, we know that, they may surprise the socks right off you. Have the best of this day, keepin' your chin up!!! Cindi

bassman1977 · March 05, 2008, 01:20:49 PM

QuoteHope that your boss is understanding of things (or are you your own boss, hee, hee).

Nope...I'm not the boss but I don't think he cares. I don't think I've been on time for work more than a dozen times in the past two years :roll: Eh, they get the time one way or another anyway.

QuoteBees are survivors, we know that, they may surprise the socks right off you.

Very true. I am optimistic that they will be OK.

bassman1977 · March 05, 2008, 07:44:34 PM

After I got home from work I headed out to the hives to make sure everything was still sturdy. The hives that toppled needed a little bit more support so I fixed up the italian before heading to the carnolian. The carnolian hive probably would have taken another spill if we got more rain like we did the past couple of days so I moved it a few feet forward where the ground was more solid. After I moved it and was about to walk away I heard 'hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm"!!!!!! WOOO HOO...the Carnies are singing! :) :) :) :) I think they will be just fine.

While I was down there, I noticed a lot of pooled water, so I created some drainage ditches leading to a slope going into the woods. The ditches seem to be working. There was a lot of water going down the slope. Hopefully this will be sufficient enough to keep that particular area from becoming soggy again like it is now. At least until I get the new site cleaned up enough to move them.

johnnybigfish · March 05, 2008, 08:26:12 PM

Man, that was a bummer!
After reading your post I had to get up and take a look at my hives!
They are still upright.
I've always wondered what i'm gonna do if one of mine fall. Sometimes, in spring, we get up to 85 miles and hour wind gusts and thats usually with a ton of rain!
I hope it goes good for yoy fixing these hives back!
your friend,
john

DayValleyDahlias · March 05, 2008, 08:42:55 PM

Yay, they are fine! What a great feeling eh?

bassman1977 · March 05, 2008, 09:13:36 PM

QuoteI've always wondered what i'm gonna do if one of mine fall. Sometimes, in spring, we get up to 85 miles and hour wind gusts and thats usually with a ton of rain!

Hopefully you want have to find out. This is pretty much my worst nightmare realized (minus the bear ;-) )

QuoteYay, they are fine! What a great feeling eh?

I am relieved for sure. I'm going to consider myself almost out of the woods....who knows if anything else could happen yet. Queen could have gotten killed, still moist inside the hive, etc. Only a few more weeks until spring... :-\

Michael Bush · March 06, 2008, 09:07:48 AM

If it wasn't too cold they probably will recover nicely. If it was really cold, it's hard to say how they did.

bassman1977 · March 06, 2008, 12:21:07 PM

It was 40 degrees F when I got them boxed back up.

KONASDAD · March 06, 2008, 12:33:53 PM

Not trying to bum you out but maybe the carni's are queenless, making them "hum" more than normal. If they are, and i hope I am wrong, take frames w/ eggs from another hive and make sure they have some queen make eggs to work w/. It is early for Pa, but hopefully some drones are around. I havent opened my hives to see if drones are available. waiting for nicer, more consistant weather. On of my hives has been tipping and i wll fix tonite.

bassman1977 · March 06, 2008, 01:27:24 PM

QuoteNot trying to bum you out but maybe the carni's are queenless, making them "hum" more than normal. If they are, and i hope I am wrong, take frames w/ eggs from another hive and make sure they have some queen make eggs to work w/. It is early for Pa, but hopefully some drones are around. I havent opened my hives to see if drones are available. waiting for nicer, more consistant weather.

I doubt I even have eggs in any of my hives. TBH, it's too cold for me to even want to go that deep into any hives to find out. I'll deal with it when the time comes. In the mean time, I think they were humming that loudly because I had just got done moving the hive. I actually picked the whole thing up and set it down, so it would have been like me tapping on the sides (but louder).

QuoteOn of my hives has been tipping and i wll fix tonite.

Ack... :-\

I am thinking of what I can do to make the hive locations a bit more firm when something like this occurs. Maybe making a pad for each with gravel. I dunno, but I don't want it to be too expensive.

bassman1977 · March 14, 2008, 01:34:08 AM

Just a follow-up. The weather was nice this afternoon and the Carnolian hive was alive as ever (so were the other three for that matter). YAY!

qa33010 · March 15, 2008, 03:16:30 AM

Congrats!

One of our neighbors caused this problem in our back yard by changing the drainage that was going right between our properties to shift and it started to pool under my farthest hive from the back door. The blocks also shifted and luckily it just barley tipped about forty-five degrees. Reset and straightened and reinforced and good to go.

Brian D. Bray · March 16, 2008, 12:22:13 AM

Quote from: qa33010 on March 15, 2008, 03:16:30 AM
Congrats!

One of our neighbors caused this problem in our back yard by changing the drainage that was going right between our properties to shift and it started to pool under my farthest hive from the back door. The blocks also shifted and luckily it just barley tipped about forty-five degrees. Reset and straightened and reinforced and good to go.

Yeah, drainage problems can cause a lot of problems. Architects and Engineers still haven't learned their lesson though. They keep developing new housing, installing drainage for that development and are then suprized when the entire development next door slides in to ocean. It's a yearly occurance in California and Washington.