I’m completely satisfied to report that my valuable beehive survived not one, however TWO hurricanes in lower than three weeks!
First got here hurricane Helene, which introduced tropical storm power winds and several other inches of rain to my space because it handed by Tampa Bay within the Gulf of Mexico en path to landfall close to Cedar Key FL.
Subsequent got here hurricane Milton which struck Tampa Bay instantly. Our neighborhood (about 50 miles away from the place the attention got here ashore) obtained 90 mph winds with gusts at round 110 mph. We additionally obtained about 10 inches of rain, which triggered fairly a little bit of localized flooding.
For sure, I needed to dial up my beehive storm preparations to have any hope in any respect of my colony surviving the ordeal.
Not solely did I safe it with bungy cords and a sturdy windbreak board (to stop damaging wind tunnels contained in the hive), I added two extra concrete blocks on the highest to weigh it down additional.
Regardless of my preparations, gusts of 110 mph may have simply toppled the hive and destroyed it.
In a stroke of fine fortune, Mom Nature intervened.
In the course of the peak of the storm, a tree fell on high of the hive, however amazingly, didn’t knock it over. 🤯
As a substitute, the branches created a cage across the hive that appeared to guard it. Above is an image of how I discovered the hive amazingly 100% intact the following morning after the storm abated and it was protected to go exterior.
Under is a brief video of how the hive taken care of hurricane Helene.
I used to be so thrilled at how effectively the colony tailored to the hostile situations and even appeared to thrive despite them.
I checked the hive yesterday (one week after hurricane Milton), and I’m completely satisfied to report that there’s even MORE honey within the honey field, aka “tremendous”, that our household can be having fun with within the coming weeks.