Easy methods to protected a residential beehive in preparation for a top wind tournament together with a tropical typhoon or typhoon.

With a Cat 3 typhoon lately bearing down on our neighborhood, I spent a while the day before today securing our yard beehive in preparation for the typhoon.

I adopted the stairs steered by way of grasp beekeeper John Morse, founding father of Gem Apiaries.

The stairs had been reasonably easy, because it seems!

It didn’t contain shifting the beehive in any respect, which might introduce a huge quantity of tension to the colony.

For business beekeepers with a couple of cell hives with suitable apparatus for shipping, it is sensible to easily pick out up the hives and transfer them out of the world utterly.

For a residential beekeeper, then again, this isn’t an possibility.

Securing the hive to resist top winds is the most productive method with as minimum disruption as conceivable.

To Feed or To not Feed?

There are other evaluations on whether or not this can be a just right thought to feed bees with sugar water.

My opinion is that, whilst in no way ultimate, feeding the hive may on occasion be essential underneath excessive cases.

A typhoon most probably qualifies as this sort of tournament.

In line with John’s advice, I fed my hive a quart of nonGMO sugar water. This offers them with plentiful meals to final the 1-3 days of top wind and torrential rain when foraging would now not be conceivable.

By no means ever feed your bees an answer of top fructose corn syrup or simple white sugar.

Either one of those alternatives are of GMO foundation and most probably include glyphosate residues that may get into the honey.

As well as, you should definitely use filtered water to keep away from giving your bees poisonous chlorine, fluoride or different elements repeatedly present in faucet water.

In different phrases, you should definitely use nonGMO cane sugar combined with filtered water, if you select to feed your hive earlier than the typhoon.

Every other recommendation is to make use of a wide-mouth glass mason jar with a nonBPA lid for feeding and keep away from plastic.

Securing the Hive

An important step in making ready your beehive for the coming of a top wind tournament like a typhoon is to protected the highest of the hive in order that it will probably’t simply get blown off.

Including weight to the hive could also be necessary to stay it from getting knocked over.

That is achieved with heavy-duty bungee cords or rope.

As you’ll see from the photograph above, I fixed two bungee cords tightly round all of the hive.

This comprises looping the cords beneath and attaching the hive to the 2 huge concrete blocks that function its basis.

The hive sure at the side of the concrete blocks weighs it down significantly.

As well as, the positioning of the colony is tucked away with surrounding protecting crops. Thus, handiest the most powerful winds may topple it.

Final Off Air flow

A screened backside board (like this one) is utilized in Langstroth-style hives to extend air flow.

I stay mine open lots of the yr because of the nice and cozy temperatures.

I shut it up when chilly fronts come via to lend a hand the bees in keeping up an optimum temperature throughout the hive.

Alternatively, within the tournament of top winds, it could make sense to near this off to stop wind gusts from arising beneath the hive, in the course of the display backside board, and lifting the hive clear of the basis.

No doubt, if the incoming typhoon was once going to drop the temperature considerably, last off the ground air flow would undoubtedly be a good suggestion.

As well as, relying at the path of the wind, it could make sense to near off the doorway to the hive as smartly.

For the reason that our neighborhood is probably not experiencing an instantaneous hit from the typhoon’s maximum ferocious winds, I’ve selected to not shut off air flow.

As well as, the temperatures will nonetheless be round 80 °F all through the peak of the typhoon, so last the air flow may make the interior of the hive too heat.

Alternatively, I may trade my thoughts and do it temporarily if the typhoon makes a last-minute directional trade.

What’s your technique for securing residential or home beehives in preparation for serious storms like a typhoon?