Flooded beehives cleanup advice

[Kittih]

On Christmas Eve we experienced a flood surge in our apiary that knocked over most of the hives. Of my three hives two colonies were drowned but one somehow survived. The frames in the drowned colonies are all waterlogged.

We were only able to access the site today and were able to move all hives to higher ground as 6 hours of heavy rain and more flooding is forecast tonight.

I have not inspected my surviving colony except to leave a big block of fondant on the crown board where many of the bees were huddled. They are also sitting on the upper sections of the frames.

It is likely that the frames are at least partially waterlogged. Daytime temperatures are a maximum of 5 or 6 degrees for the next week.

I am looking for some advice on how to give the colony the best chance of survival. I wouldn't normally open them up and inspect / do maintenance when the weather is this cold but I am concerned they will struggle to stay warm if the combs are wet and dirty.

Any suggestions please?

An added complication is that the access road is badly damaged and impassable to vehicles. As it was my first year I don't have any dry drawn brood comb available.

Thanks.

 

[pargyle]

Dry them out as much as you can, get them somewhere dry if there is going to be more rain (and from the weather here tonight - high winds as well). Slap some fondant on top of the frames and hope for the best ..

We have heard in here of hives actually floating and the bees have survived so there is some hope the ones that have survived so far will have some chance of continuing to survive. They are very adept at getting things back together - if you can give them some protection and some insulation it will give them a better chance of drying things out.

Good luck, it's your worst nightmare.

 

[Kittih]

Dry them out as much as you can, get them somewhere dry if there is going to be more rain (and from the weather here tonight - high winds as well). Slap some fondant on top of the frames and hope for the best ..

We have heard in here of hives actually floating and the bees have survived so there is some hope the ones that have survived so far will have some chance of continuing to survive. They are very adept at getting things back together - if you can give them some protection and some insulation it will give them a better chance of drying things out.

Good luck, it's your worst nightmare.

Thanks. The other hiveowners seemed to have more luck and their hives floated and the colonies seem to have survived. Unfortunately mine were the last in the row and a large pile of wood collided with them during the water surge.

So should I open them up and try and get any water out of the frames or just leave them bee and hope the bees can dry them?

They have been clustering in these temperatures so I am worried with all the damp they will chill and die. They have a large block of fondant on the crown board currently which they were tucking in to. I will put some fondant on top of the frames tomorrow when the storm has passed.

 

[pargyle]

Thanks. The other hiveowners seemed to have more luck and their hives floated and the colonies seem to have survived. Unfortunately mine were the last in the row and a large pile of wood collided with them during the water surge.

So should I open them up and try and get any water out of the frames or just leave them bee and hope the bees can dry them?

They have been clustering in these temperatures so I am worried with all the damp they will chill and die. They have a large block of fondant on the crown board currently which they were tucking in to. I will put some fondant on top of the frames tomorrow when the storm has passed.

The bees will take to the areas of frame which are usable - remember capped stores will be waterproof - don't worry about the dirt - bees will clean that up if they can get to it. I would not disturb them more than is necessary ... if you have timber hives wrap them in some insulating material and get some insulation under the roof to make them as toasty as possible ... they will regulate the hive temperature if they have the chance and it will dry out. No holes in the crownboard or any ventilation ... you've already given them some fondant which is good - let them sort things out - opening up will do little good and may be more harming. Keep your fingers crossed ...

 

[Kittih]

The bees will take to the areas of frame which are usable - remember capped stores will be waterproof - don't worry about the dirt - bees will clean that up if they can get to it. I would not disturb them more than is necessary ... if you have timber hives wrap them in some insulating material and get some insulation under the roof to make them as toasty as possible ... they will regulate the hive temperature if they have the chance and it will dry out. No holes in the crownboard or any ventilation ... you've already given them some fondant which is good - let them sort things out - opening up will do little good and may be more harming. Keep your fingers crossed ...

Thank you. They already have insulation in the roof and prior to the flood hefting indicated they should have had a lot of stores so I shall leave them alone for now. I have some insulating wrap I can add once the wind dies down. There is no roof ventilation. They are just on OMF which hopefully will let any condensing moisture drain out. I will keep my fingers crossed they will pull through.

 

[pargyle]

You're doing all the right things ... let us know how you get on. Hopefully they will pull through ...

 

[Murox]

So very sorry for you. As I write its 0130 hrs on Sunday, we are just experiencing the full force of the storm with hail and rain (it woke me up). I do hope they manage to survive .

 

[GuyNir]

This is awful. Very sorry to hear. You got good advice up here and you’re doing the right things. Good luck, fingers crossed they make it

 

[elainemary]

Good luck Kittih, sounds you a done a really good job in v difficult circumstances. Do keep us posted

 

[Kittih]

Thank you all for your kind messages.

 

[Hachi]

If you're a club member, put a shout out for any members who may have any foundation or comb spare? Now before the disease police try to jump all over me, ensure to their best knowledge it comes from a disease free hive. These are desperate times calling for desperate measures.

You could get enough kit together to make up a new hive, open them up and transfer. You could then put on a slab of fondant and hope until spring.

Good luck

 

[pargyle]

If you're a club member, put a shout out for any members who may have any foundation or comb spare? Now before the disease police try to jump all over me, ensure to their best knowledge it comes from a disease free hive. These are desperate times calling for desperate measures.

You could get enough kit together to make up a new hive, open them up and transfer. You could then put on a slab of fondant and hope until spring.

Good luck

The downside to that is you may be taking frames of stores - which may well be usable - from the existing hive and giving them empty frames or foundation which is less use to them at this time of year - they won't draw new comb and will be solely reliant upon fondant for some months when they could potentially use at least some of the stores they have. Plus, opening them up and transferring them at this point may stress them more than they are already stressed. Give them a chance to sort themselves out - bees are remarkably adept at digging themselves out of a hole without our 'help'.

 

[Kittih]

Thanks all for the suggestions. They are currently in just a brood box - I have no idea how much capped stores or water filled cells there are as it's too cold to check (2-4⁰c). On top of the crown board I have put fondant (which they are eating) plus insulation.

I dismantled and cleaned up my two flooded and dead hives and have recovered two full supers worth of capped stores. As I understand it, the capped supers should be safe for them to use. The plan is to put the supers on top of the brood box and let them move up into them. It will be drier up there with lots of food. I don't really mind if they put brood in there as I run brood and a half normally and it's easy enough to sort out in spring. As long as I can get them through the winter that's all that matters at this stage.

I do have spare brood/super foundation and some drawn comb although I was originally planning to move them from standard to 14x12 in the spring so may have to revise my plans.

My two dead hives both had a small amount of capped brood so it is likely this hive does too though whether it will have survived is hard to know.

 

[pargyle]

Good plan ...

 

[Amari]

Thanks all for the suggestions. They are currently in just a brood box - I have no idea how much capped stores or water filled cells there are as it's too cold to check (2-4⁰c). On top of the crown board I have put fondant (which they are eating) plus insulation.

I dismantled and cleaned up my two flooded and dead hives and have recovered two full supers worth of capped stores. As I understand it, the capped supers should be safe for them to use. The plan is to put the supers on top of the brood box and let them move up into them. It will be drier up there with lots of food. I don't really mind if they put brood in there as I run brood and a half normally and it's easy enough to sort out in spring. As long as I can get them through the winter that's all that matters at this stage.

I do have spare brood/super foundation and some drawn comb although I was originally planning to move them from standard to 14x12 in the spring so may have to revise my plans.

My two dead hives both had a small amount of capped brood so it is likely this hive does too though whether it will have survived is hard to know.

I'm disappointed to read that the two hives each had a small amount of capped brood. I'm not far distant from you so I expect my 12 hives I vaped two weeks ago have capped brood too. Maybe I should repeat the vapes - but I'm not sure that I've got the energy....

 

[Hachi]

The downside to that is you may be taking frames of stores - which may well be usable - from the existing hive and giving them empty frames or foundation which is less use to them at this time of year - they won't draw new comb and will be solely reliant upon fondant for some months when they could potentially use at least some of the stores they have. Plus, opening them up and transferring them at this point may stress them more than they are already stressed. Give them a chance to sort themselves out - bees are remarkably adept at digging themselves out of a hole without our 'help'.

I was rather hoping Phil, I didnt need to state the rather obvious but good on yer, no confusion now

 

[pargyle]

I was rather hoping Phil, I didnt need to state the rather obvious but good on yer, no confusion now

I have a City in Guilds Diploma in stating the obvious and an HND in shutting the door after the horse has bolted !

 

[Kittih]

I'm disappointed to read that the two hives each had a small amount of capped brood. I'm not far distant from you so I expect my 12 hives I vaped two weeks ago have capped brood too. Maybe I should repeat the vapes - but I'm not sure that I've got the energy....

Yes we were surprised too though that said until this week there have been quite a few milder days. It makes me wonder whether we can expect a completely brood less period during winters in the east of England nowadays.

It's not a huge amount so hopefully most mites will have been phoretic.

Sides one and two of middle brood frame of one of the destroyed hives..

 

[Kittih]

Some images of the hives after the water surge had passed just to give you an idea of the power of the water. Some if them ended 4/5 ft up the earth bank which is the maximum height the water reached. It's a wonder all but two survived really. My hives are the first two images. The fourth image shows the large pile of wood on the left which hit all the hives.

 

[Swarm]

Devastating site. my friend lost two colonies in similar circumstances back in March. Your idea of supers for the bees to move up into is sound, fingers crossed for you.