Storm Doris blue through yesterday. Two of the three hives in my out apiary where knocked over. Fortunately all had hive straps so the boxes did not separate. The stand for Hive C cracked when I righted it, but it stayed upright.
The lesson for hives in exposed positions would seem to be:
- Always fit a hive strap. I used a strap bought from Thorne. I'm very glad that I have the version with the ratchet. The extra tightness certainly ensured that the boxes stayed together.
- Take hives off their stands, if possible. The disadvantage is that there's a greater risk from damp. This could be mitigated by moving them only during storm conditions. There are more stable hive stands than the type which I'm using. Multiple hives can be placed next to each other but this has disadvantages during summer because of drifting and robbing.
- Tether the hives to something stable, if possible.
- Keep hive height to a minimum by removing excess super boxes at the end of the season.
I'm trying to find out the peak wind speed for the apiary.