Flood Rescue tomorrow

[Tim1606]

Well done a bit tricky getting the hive bits into the boat!
On a brighter note - a great photo for next year's Beecraft calendar?
(Craft, geddit...)

Possibly May or June????

 

[johnfly]

What do you think they could do when flooding starts?

Come on.

Chris

watch for weather reports up river of you, move them if you think its on its way to you, the same as i had to do with one lot of hives, the field where they were, has never flooded before, but weather forecast up river from me was bad so i checked on them, water was rising so i moved the hives onto higher ground, its no good looking at the forecast around you, nine times out of ten, around you may not cause you to many problems, but comeing from further afield as you can see the outcome, lock the bees in for a week and move them, it gives them a chance to be alive still.
i do feel sorry for anyone who has lost their bees, but sometime forward thinking of the weather forcast should bring up a yellow flag before the red one.
what would you of done Chris ???

 

[Sir Quej]

What is the situation re insurance/compensation/support for beekeepers who suffer this sort of thing?

Is there anything available to cover loss of equipment and earnings?

 

[Chris Luck]

what would you of done Chris ???

Fitted them with floats and anchors of course...

....but failing that it would be beyond my means to move 30 full hives on my own over muddy ground in that type of time span AND then of course there is the small matter of where to...

...fortunately none of my colonies are anywhere that would flood and I count my blessings and feel for those that have lost them, both are professionals with a large number of colonies to consider.

Chris

 

[Bates]

did you not have someone keeping an eye on your hives or looking after your your hives for you while you are in Australia for six months

My colleague was busy rescuing 2 other loads when the floods hit there, these were already done before placed up on pallets and when he checked the river before everything was ok, it was just too fast and once the water hit was impossible to get a vehicle in to move the hives. He is only one man and hives were full of winter stores.

The problem here is finding sites, even if he picked them up he had nowhere to put them. I could only wake in shock to images during the night here and watch complete distruction from thousands of miles away unfold.

 

[Chris B]

Bl**dy hell.............. I would like an answer from the environment agency

With hindsight it was partly my fault. There was no flood warning because it's not residential. But the river level upstream was on their website. Unfortunately it went up very quickly and I'm not sure I could have safely got there in time.

The farmer blamed the badgers that had dug into the earth banking, which then collapsed when the water rose.

 

[Moggs]

We have seen unprecedented rapid rises in river and smaller-scale watercourses in many areas hereabouts in the Middle Lands. To the point of properties being flooded, literally, before the owners could drive home from work to install flood defences.

Aerial photographs show whole towns isolated - for example Upton on Severn is to be renamed Upton in Severn.

I don't work for the Environment Agency but do work for a Company that monitors and maintains telemetry systems for all things of an hydrometric nature. We are busy.

Condolences to all those with bee losses.

 

[mbc]

Condolences to all those with bee losses.

It must be devastating to lose your pride and joy's.

 

[Haughton Honey]

We have seen unprecedented rapid rises in river and smaller-scale watercourses in many areas hereabouts in the Middle Lands. To the point of properties being flooded, literally, before the owners could drive home from work to install flood defences.

Aerial photographs show whole towns isolated - for example Upton on Severn is to be renamed Upton in Severn.

I don't work for the Environment Agency but do work for a Company that monitors and maintains telemetry systems for all things of an hydrometric nature. We are busy.

Condolences to all those with bee losses.

Coincidentally I drove through Upton on Severn on Saturday and Sunday just gone, on our way to and from Abergavenny.

Lovely little town that I'd never been to before and I've pencilled in to re-visit and explore it a little at some point in the future.

However, the flooding in that region was incredible. Our journey between Monmouth and Abergavenny was 'exciting' to say the least as it was through many many flooded back lanes. Thankfully the Land Rover got us there in one piece and we faired better than many in lower-slung vehicles might have.

 

[Elaine]

Really sorry to hear of so many lost hives - just looking at the pictures makes me feel very sad for anyone who has gone to look at their hives and been met with such sights

 

[Erichalfbee]

So sorry too.
Stuff of nightmares

 

[Oscarmonster]

The farmer blamed the badgers

I take it your farmer was pro the cull.

 

[Chris B]

I take it your farmer was pro the cull.

Oh yes.

 

[tonybloke]

>Chris, if the poly hives didn't have feeders / fondant and ekes on them, would they have just floated?
or, if this is likely to be an issue in the future, would extra poly on the sides help hives to float?

 

[Chris B]

>Chris, if the poly hives didn't have feeders / fondant and ekes on them, would they have just floated?
or, if this is likely to be an issue in the future, would extra poly on the sides help hives to float?

I was thinking about this. Floating isn't the problem but stability is. Especially in summer - the previous bad floods were in July 2007 when full supers were on. (I didn't have that apiary then).
Maybe a modified pallet would do it. The all I'd have to worry about is retrieving them from the Bristol Channel.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Maybe a modified pallet would do it. The all I'd have to worry about is retrieving them from the Bristol Channel.

better take my bee suit to work from now on in that case!

 

[richardbees]

Chris B

Just make sure they're fitted with a RAF sar beacon and Prince W will help you out....

 

[acabee]

Sorry to hear of people's losses in the floods - bees and otherwise. It must be really very grim.

Yes I'd think stability would be the issue. Some kind of raft needed as part of the stand structure perhaps with more than one hive to balance it out.

A bee ark? I would think plenty of older male beeks could do a reasonable impression of Noah?

Perhaps some adaptation of a coracle type design might allow stability in all directions? (That's a really big skep you've have there - how big did you say the swarm is??)

This old text (date?) (fascinating read by the way) notes:

In France, floating bee-hives are very common. One barge contains from sixty to a hundred hives, which are well defended from the inclemency of the weather. Thus the owners float them gently down the stream, while, they gather their honey from the flowers along its banks; a single bee-house yields the proprietor a considerable income.


Comes from: http://chestofbooks.com/reference/The-Domestic-Encyclopaedia-Vol1/Bee-Hives.html#ixzz2DYgsxJs9

acabee

 

[Hombre]

Hey, I recognise the tree and the water beyond, but not the foreground. I guess the going was soft on the track?

Almost unrecognisable as being the same place we knew in the summer. I don't suppose you noticed if the winter rape was doing well?

I'll speak to you tomorrow.

 

[drstitson]

whilst on topic of flooded hives - does the panel have any advice about what to do with sodden matchsticks? obviously they'll have expanded with resulting increase in ventilation over and above that recommended by BBKA. should they be replaced with fresh dry ones or allowed to dry out naturally with the rest of the hive?