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Hurricane Sandy

11K views 16 replies 14 participants last post by  Jim Given 
#1 ·
Well I am now feeling more of the effects of sandy. Previously just rain for a little over a day but the winds have started to pickup. My hives at home will be okay but the outlying hives will be a concern. I won't be able to get to them for couple days. Ants will be an issue.
 
#6 ·
And you east coasters are afraid of earthquakes! I don't know when the next EQ will hit, but the hurricanes come back every year it seems for you guys.

I do wish everyone on the east coast a safe out come from the hurricanes, I cringe every time I see one forming on the tv.

For you Florida beekeepers, how do you prepare for the canes, I mean you almost have to load up and head north or just wish for the best I suppose?
 
#7 ·
I just have a few hive and haven't had a major hurricane hit while I've had them. I would probably move them inland a little maybe screw the lids down.

People that depepend on beekeeping for a living might have a better plan.

My hurricane plans involve loading up the family our dog and an INCH bag to include the insurance policy. We take two vehicles in case of problems and leave early.
That's what's important everything else is just stuff.
My wife has a couple of boxes photos etc. she likes to take.
 
#8 ·
Well the weather folks seem to think Pennsylvania is in the crosshairs for this one.

Last year, Tropical Storm Lee was bad for us here with flooding.
I spent two days (thurs and fri) on pump details with the fire dept and two additional days on a backhoe cleaning up at our place.

Tomorrow we are filling the spare gas cans for the generator and stocking up on food supplies.
 
#10 ·
Okay, I'm still here, not sure how my two apiaries are, I won't able to reach them for a couple more days. My bees at home were unscathed though. Power and phones were out from Wednesday morning, got them back this morning. Thanks for the concern. I trust all who were and will be impacted by this storm will be as lucky as I was
 
#11 ·
I just posted a question about my hive and hadnt seen this discussion. I keep rocks on the top cover of my hive to help weight it down. Does anyone build a windbreak? ...this would probably be useful for winterizing as well! This is my first hive and I dont want to lose it to a Hurricane!
 
#14 ·
I have now been through 2 hurricanes(only 1 direct hit) and a couple storms. It has been my experience that wind is not the greatest factor. Trees falling or limbs are my worry. As long as the hives are seated properly on the stands( assuming the stands themselves are stable) the winds don't bother them. They are usually low enough that the winds seem to blow over them.
 
#13 ·
I drove steel stakes in the ground in front and back of the hives, and tied garden twine around them and over the top of the hives. I overwintered them last winter that way and it works fairly well. It won't do anything about a tree falling on them, but it does help significantly against a strong wind.
 
#15 ·
Here's my experience with Sandy. I have an apiary in Kingston and one in St. Thomas. The one in Kingston was unscathed, mainly because the hives were in a protected area. The one in St. Thomas was not so lucky. I lost 3 TBH and 2 langs turned over on their sides but the frames and bees were still intact without covers. In this experience, TBH should be kept protected from high winds, when they fall over, all the bars (with comb) fall out onto the ground and the box roll away killing everything. I will inspect the two Langs. tomorrow to see if the queens are still alive.
From what I understand, the two eastern Parishes, Portland and St. Thomas were the hardest hit in Jamaica. Many power lines went down, worst I'v seen of the recent hurricanes to have hit us, power was out for 3 to 4 days in Kingston toward the east. Agriculture for the two Parishes has been devastated, all banana crops are gone, coffee (Blue Mountain) hit hard, coconut industry will be affected (maybe cut by 50%) for the next 6 months. For a poor country like Jamaica where agriculture is dominated by the small poor farmer, one hit like this is devastating. But as the saying goes "wi likkle but wi tallawa", meaning we are small but we are strong.
Peace
Cheech
 
#16 ·
the hammer is coming down here in North NJ. pretty windy, and rainy. waiting for the trees to start dropping and taking out the power lines. All my hives are got cinderblocks on top and were moves out of the way of any potential tree falls. praying I dont find my bee yard destroyed by a fallen trees
 
#17 ·
Mine were strapped and had cinder blocks.....out of my three, all survived, but not sure how well. As a huge tree fell and one limb blew off the blocks, broke the strap and left the tops off by 1/3rd open to the rain. Next morn I took the chainsaw and cleared the area, but keeping fingers crossed on the outcome of my hives from all that rain. They are still there...so keeping my chin up.

Jim
 
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