It could have been worse
I got back an hour ago from a morning's boating.
6 hives were still on their stands with no apparent problems. The water level had subsided so I won't know until next week if they really came through unscathed.
The other 6 were all floating up to 100 yards away. Some had turned upside down due to being top heavy with fondant. So frames were partially submerged. I had to tow all but one as they were too heavy to lift in the boat. Lids, feeders, floors had come away in some cases. Unsurpisingly the upside down ones had lost their fondant. For once I was very pleased to get stung as it told me there was still some life in there.
Only 1 had completely drowned. Another had a fair amount of dead but still made a decent buzz. The other four looked like they still had a viable cluster in spite of losses.
I'm guessing I might be down 3 or 4 at worst once I can assess them properly. I'll live with that.
Thanks all for your concern. I'm quite relieved really. The damage is relatively minor.
And really sorry to hear about your 60 Bates. I got off easy.
(I'm sure there will be plenty of others we haven't yet heard about too)
any news on your hives Chris? Fingers crossed. Just been down to look at the Thames, which is doing its thing in Oxford.
