# General beekeeping > Everything and anything >  A mighty wind

## Jon

Time to batten down the hatches.




http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/16068618

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## gavin

Things were never the same after the Beeb stopped using the ancient pyramidic scrolls for forecasts.

Is this a three-brick or a four brick storm Trog? Or even a two?

Time for all the polyhive users to get nervous.

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## Jon

My apideas could end up with Grizzly in Stranraer.

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## gavin

Tie them down with long pieces of string and see if you can be the first to have Apidea kites.

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## GRIZZLY

> My apideas could end up with Grizzly in Stranraer.


 They will be most welcome Jon.

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## Jimbo

Sent home from work today so checked my colonies at 3 sites. All OK but then the blocks of concrete on the roof seem to be working. Just watching a large water spout from my front window twisting down the loch

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## Trog

> Things were never the same after the Beeb stopped using the ancient pyramidic scrolls for forecasts.
> 
> Is this a three-brick or a four brick storm Trog? Or even a two?
> 
> Time for all the polyhive users to get nervous.


I left them with one brick each, Gavin.  The hives are waterlogged so I reckoned there'd be plenty of weight in the wood!  Will find out when I go outside once dawn has cracked!

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## GRIZZLY

Wind scattered a couple of my spare empty hives - no damage.All the occupied hives and neucs o.k.

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## gavin

Reports from the association site suggest that the stones on the roofs of the polyhives were not sufficient.  I'll have a look at lunchtime.  The Swienty poly National roofs do have a big rim around the edge.

Must be wonderful living in a place with a view of the loch from Rosneath.  Helensburgh featured prominently in the TV coverage with the seafront getting a bit of a battering.  Did you really cross using the ferry yesterday Jim?

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## Jimbo

Used the military road to get home. The MOD know how to construct roads. No floods or trees etc. They should give lessons to the council on road construction but then they have to transport the odd nuke along them.(I also transport the odd nuc along this road) 
Gavin, should have used a few concrete blocks on the poly hives in the club apairy. Our club has a system that has a concrete slab base with a thick wire running underneath with 2 loops that ropes are attached to to hold down the hives

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## Trog

Hope you and the military don't get the two sorts of nucs muddled, Jimbo  :Wink: 

One brick was sufficient for my hives.  All fine, which is more than I can say for our roof  :Frown:   Only minor damage, thankfully, but work required before the next storm.

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## gavin

I need find something heavier or adopt the Helensburgh system or something like it for the association's polyhives.  We have the slabs under the hives, but no wire as yet.  I think that Murray just sticks a weight on top - must ask him.  I had one decent stone or two smaller ones on top.  One lid, and one lid plus the feeder had blown off but D had it in hand and they were back on.  The bees had retreated down the way a little. Not sure if the small clusters are going to make it.

At my own apiary I had assumed that the shelter might mean that they were no-brick (wooden) colonies.  Not so.  Two had been blown right off their stands and were upside down with the clusters exposed.  Righting a brood box with frames out of place and a strong cluster objecting to the disturbance wasn't easy, but I didn't get stung.  The second was a lot weaker and didn't complain.

The orchard has lost another old tree and there was a mature oak down in the garden of a cottage nearby.  Forgot to take a camera.

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## chris

Hope they'll come through alright Gavin. A no-brick colony? I have a heavy stone on every hive in all weather and all locations.. So does everyone else down here. Even though it's rarely needed, it gives some peace of mind. And I don't have to sit up in bed in the night in a cold sweat wondering if I'd added a brick or not.

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## lindsay s

Its a very busy time of year for me so I only got to check my hives this morning (before anyone asks Im not Santa). Thursdays storm was severe even by Orkneys standards. At its peak a low-lying wind turbine nearby recorded 100mph sustained wind speeds and a gust of 138mph. Having suffered storm damage in the past I make sure my hives are well prepared for winter, so up here its not a 3 brick colony but a 3 stone colony. Luckily my apiary was unscathed as you can see in the attached photos.
Nice photo on the front of this months Scottish Beekeeper but I think a few more bricks are needed.   
Attachment 872Attachment 873Attachment 874

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## Trog

Ah! That lovely Orkney stone which lends itself to everything from building neolithic villages to battening down hives!  The apiary on the cover would have had an extra brick each, or even a stone, had the hives not been so waterlogged. If we get a stretch of dry weather (stop laughing, Gavin; it does happen!) I'll go round with extra weights. They are pretty well sheltered, though; the biggest danger is falling trees!

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## Jon

It's blowing a proper gale again.
Will have to check lids again tomorrow.
No snow yet.

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## gavin

It sounded as bad out there as it was last Thursday and the road and rail bridges around us were completely shut, so I called round in the dark and the driving rain with a torch to check on the bees.  All still upright and with their tops on.

That's some covering of stone you use in Orkney.  Maybe you should go the whole way and just make your hives from rock.

I'll look forward to Trog's next picture of heavily weighted Mull hives slowly sinking into the mire.  Don't rely on big trees for shelter - it didn't work for mine.

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## Trog

Still only one brick, Gavin ... and they're sitting on bedrock with a slab underneath and only one brick high on top of that.  The shelter belt is drystone wall, woodland, sloe hedging, willow .... the big trees aren't shelter - only a threat if they fall that way!

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## EmsE

Lovely pictures Lindsay.

My hives all had 3 bricks on but 1 was blown over... it now has 4 bricks on it. I'm going to put a ratchet strap around each too after they've been moved.

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## gavin

I'd recommend the ratchet strap before you move them   :Wink:

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## EmsE

> I'd recommend the ratchet strap before you move them


 :Embarrassment:  I certainly will.

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## Jimbo

Another big storm again last night. This time there was not as much warning. I have just walked around the nature reserve where I have some of my colonies and they are still OK. Was also on the look out for some correx nuc hives from Belfast but did not find any.

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## Trog

Were you hoping to find bees in them, too, Jimbo?  :Wink: 

The plummeting barometers and shipping forecast were sufficient warning for me to go round and give every hive a second brick as the wind direction was slightly different to the last storm.  Supposed to be a bit calmer today but I've just been sandblasted by hail and a freezing NW gale between the stable and the muck heap!

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## susbees

Still relaxed (relatively) about the apiary here: full wood to the SW and willow stands behind all the hives to the north. All with one roof rock so far, poly-free zone (excepting apideas and Keilers but all inside and empty). The worry here is water: although high up and avoiding the guaranteed Severn flooding in the valleys below we have assorted containers with string collecting rain from inside the oak beams above the windows in our bedroom and porch - thank you woodpeckers and bluetits for pulling the foam out of the holes, oak plugs in the Spring. 

Meanwhile back at the apiary two of the roofs are suspect and need new tin. The rest I hope are coping: at least the bees are finally getting a rest from flying about collecting tiny parcels of gorse pollen and eating their stores.

Edited to say hi all  :Smile:

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## gavin

Hi Susbees 

Lovely to see you posting.

One of my strongest was as light as a feather yesterday - as that 58+1000+1000 oxalic went on (just to be different).   :Stick Out Tongue:  

Somewhat surprising that that one stayed on its stand while another two blew off a couple of weeks ago.  Despite the apparent shelter.

G.

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## lindsay s

It's that time of year again don't get caught out  :EEK!: 
Attachment 1807

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## Trog

I rather envy your nice flat Orkney stone!  We've bricks on the polynucs but trusting the roofs on the Nationals to cope as it's only 8/9.  Let's hope we're right!

Keep safe, Orcadians - and all fellow-islanders.  May the lifeboats stay moored - no rescues or medivacs tonight.

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## Jon

Was thinking of Peter Cook all day today anticipating the mighty wind coming in tonight.
Bricks went on the lids yesterday and several apideas were taped on to stands with gaffer tape.

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## gavin

> Was thinking of Peter Cook all day today anticipating the mighty wind coming in tonight.


_'Well, errr, its not quite the conflagration we've been banking on.  Never mind lads, same time tomorrow, we must get a winner one day ..... I think it was his fault, this bloke here .... '_

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## GRIZZLY

The wind is SSW by S here so I think JIMBO might be the recipiant of any loose apideas and hive parts.

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## GRIZZLY

All a bit of an anticlimax at the moment. very little wind but a deluge of rain. More wind this coming week. Bright sunshine and pouring rain at the moment. There seems to be a lot of late brood this year so having to feed maintenance rations at the moment. They are storing some tho' . Be nice if they stay strong into the winter and beyond.

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## Bridget

we had a strong wind here yesterday afternoon but just rain and some sun since

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## gavin

Hope that you've all got your chosen number of bricks - or hunks of Orkney stone - on them!  It must be, oh, two and a half months since the last storm.

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## Jon

Bad here as well. I will have to get out and check everything in the afternoon when the wind has died down.

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## gavin

Tried to drive along the Carse of Gowrie this morning and met three trees down over roads (all now made passable) and one that had brought telephone lines down over the road too.  All the bridges shut, all the trains off, level crossing stuck in the down position too.  There could be a few hive roofs off, or hives toppled.  Will check later.

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## The Drone Ranger

3 hives blown over  -- strapped together doubles 
1 mini nuc the keiler blown down and in bits (2 mini nucs left now)
Snowing a bit as I type
Door off shed completely 
Two chicken houses on their sides
No trees down this time 
Bad weather for a comb over  :Smile: 

This is a cheerful link while hiding indoors
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1Chqxk

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## Jon

Now you have made me nervous. Must get out to check mine later.
The apideas and the stuff in the Garden is OK.

We used to reckon Ralph Coates set the standard for combovers.
Bobby Charlton was so passé.

1309839757.jpg

By happy chance or perhaps anticipating the wind I had a number 2 cut yesterday so my head is not compromised by the storm conditions.

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## beejazz

Took me awhile to work out what a com bover was!

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## gavin

A couple of stacks of unused boxes over, two wooden hives shifted on their stands, hair dishevelled, and Invergowrie has turned completely white. I suspected something was up as I couldn't see a thing driving back. The whiteness not the hair. Which is turning white anyway.

Bees all OK though. 

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## The Drone Ranger

Hi Gavin
Hives back upright shed still out of commission 
Welded one hinge back on (tacked really)
Opened the thing to get at the inside of the hinge
Door fell off landed on welding mask (auto darkening cheapo) smashed into a pile of bits
Getting dark now glad the day is over  :Smile: 

Hope we don't get much more of this weather

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## Adam

I'm waiting for the weather to arrive although blowy. Severe flood warnings and the office closed early so staff could get home over bridges before they closed. Got home just in time to rescue the fence that was flailing around like a drunken man. (Or woman). Not sure if I have done enough. If I have chickens in the garden tomorrow, then the fence is down.

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## gavin

Hope you get your shed sorted soon DR.  One thing I haven't checked is the allotment shed.  Did try on the way home in the dark but can't get the lock on the site gate open, presumably its iced up.  The shed apparently has a name for blowing over in gales.  Its lack of aerodynamic shape and the way it protrudes at the top of what was (until I took it over) near-grassland earned the plot the name The House on the Prairie amongst fellow plot-holders.  However I've weighed the shed down with sacks of lime, wheelbarrow, tools, empty packets of gardening sundries, bits of dropped onion skin, empty plastic pots and trays, and much spare beekeeping stuff so maybe it'll be OK.  Can't imagine the size (or number) of bricks required to hold its roof on so I haven't bothered.




> If I have chickens in the garden tomorrow, then the fence is down.


If the chickens turn into ducks, geese and waders, you know you're in trouble.

Adam, thoughts are with you and others in low-lying bits of the southeastern parts of these isles.  Don't like the sound of 'once in 60 years storm surges'.  Stay safe.

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## Jon

> If the chickens turn into ducks, geese and waders, you know you're in trouble.


You are inviting comments from the likes of Eric about GMOs with speculation like that.
Some of them will probably grow 4 legs as well

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## Trog

Hives all OK so far; no trees down, to my immense surprise.  Hens moving like commandos from sheltered bit to sheltered bit, then getting caught out with the wind behind their tails - quite comical! Four legs might have been useful to them; maybe I need to feed GM maize to them for the benefit of their offspring ...  No power for most of the day but back on by dusk.  Had snow  :Smile:  briefly.  Very Christmassy!

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## GRIZZLY

A jumble of empty hives together with a pile of empty neucs plus one metal chair sent into a heap in one corner of the garden. They were all tied down with bricks etc. The temperature  really low with the wind chill making the conditions arctic. I'll sort it all out tomorrow when the wind drops. Together with a 10 hour electricity cut - has made today one to forget.

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## susbees

Urghh...hope those afflicted get sorted out soon  :Frown: 

High winds here yesterday - and glad we weren't living in Rhyl. Floods where we moved here from in E Anglia so up a hill was a good idea (well until it's wintery!). Ought to go and check apiaries. Five of our llamas had escaped through a gate that had been worried open by the wind - but were still on the farm and away from the other male!

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## Jimbo

Phone call from estate manager about one hive that went over. Out in the dark last night with head torch on and 2 degrees with snow flurries. Found the hive had been put back together by the manager!. Opened up briefly to have a look. All the bees were OK some were trying to fly in the beam of the head torch (Amm are tough little girls). Did notice that they had got through a lot of fondant so will have to check all my other colonies for stores this weekend

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## snimmo243

I'm glad to report that my hives were ok yesterday, my main concern was tree limbs coming down on them rather than being blown over
Steven

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## Adam

No chickens or ducks in the garden for me, but flooding around the area and a some houses fell into the sea. Many people were very lucky though with water levels JUST under flood levels. 
Looking out of my office window this lunchtime, the ships in the river tower above the buildings as the river level is so high. Looks quite surreal.

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## GRIZZLY

Wind damage with todays gusts ,- split a lodge pole pine into two and felled a noble fir . Snapped off right at the base. Shame because the noble fir was one I raised from seed some twenty years ago. Too late in life to go thro' that again . No damage to hives tho'.

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## The Drone Ranger

Bad luck with the tree Grizzly
I've only just got the shed door back on hope it stay there this time  :Smile:

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## Daveoneflowers

Hi I am in Birmingham, nice  quiet small place. I was in Helen's borer about 15 years ago and had a taste of your local weather, bluddy horrendous. Friend of mine was on the subs there. Must say best Xmas and new year I have ever had. Hope your all ok.

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## prakel

edited out: 16/12/13

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## Bridget

Had to do some repair work on the bee house yesterday in some strong winds.  All of you from the Health and safety Exec please refrain from saying we should have tied the ladders down.  It was hard enough to stay on the roof let along hang on to the ladders.  I must say that is not me up there - I was just throwing stapler guns and hammers up to him, against the force of the wind.  
beehaus.JPG




After all that excitement we repaired inside for a tasty pizza.  Just as I got it in the oven the lights went out with a power cut last lasted 4 hours - however I can report that Mr Lidls pizza cooked extremely well on the top of the word burner - nice and crispy.
Attachment 1934

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## Rosie

You did well to refelt on a windy day.

You can't beat woodburners can you.

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## The Drone Ranger

> You did well to refelt on a windy day.
> 
> You can't beat woodburners can you.


You can if you have a word burner  :Smile:

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## Jon

It's like burning books only combustion is much slower.

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## Rosie

If it's microsoft word some bug would put it out just before it got going.

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## mbc

A slow auto bahn ?

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## Jon

I heat my home by burning the fonts I never use.
You can boil up enough water for a pot of tea with Century Gothic.

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## gavin

Must be enough unwanted words on SBAi to keep everybody warm over the festive period.  If the weather turns baltic we could throw a few videos on the fire to up the calorific value.

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## prakel

> Must be enough unwanted words on SBAi to keep everybody warm over the festive period.


Really?

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## gavin

> Really?


Not a complaint - maybe I should have used another word.  Extra, maybe.  There's blether here too even if we have a higher signal to noise ratio than some other places.  I certainly add to that.

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## prakel

Just wondering.....after my experiences elsewhere this last weekend!

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## The Drone Ranger

> Just wondering.....after my experiences elsewhere this last weekend!


Don't say someone nasty has scorched your Comic Sans  :Smile:

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## prakel

> Don't say someone nasty has scorched your Comic Sans


lol, my own fault for trying to get sense (or at least, a straight answer of either kind) from someone with a preconceived theory.

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## Pete L

> lol, my own fault for trying to get sense (or at least, a straight answer of either kind) from someone with a preconceived theory.


Was it a Bispham thing.

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## The Drone Ranger

> lol, my own fault for trying to get sense (or at least, a straight answer of either kind) from someone with a preconceived theory.


Hi Prakel 

I bought a drill a few days ago 
I spent a while just price comparing online
I decided just to get one similar to the old Bosch I was replacing it lasted 15years or so
Unfortunately I went to the shop because when I got there I noted that Lithium is the new battery favourite
Course a drill with those batteries are more expensive and there is a whole range of them
Anyway I bought one(not a bosch )then got it home and did some research again -- would the batteries be interchangable etc
Had I bought the right one should I gave got a different one?
Found there is a whole load of technology to control charging in the battery itself various chargers some faster than others
After immersing myself in this for about 24 hrs I knew lots about the technology the costs, availability, advantages, drawbacks etc

The following day I drilled 4 holes !!

Sometimes all the effort that goes into becoming an "expert" in beekeeping seems to produce the same effect as things spiral into complicated notions of what's needed to drill a few holes

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## GRIZZLY

D R they don't make 'em like they used to.

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## The Drone Ranger

> D R they don't make 'em like they used to.


That's so true  :Smile: 
I bet your woodworking bench has some tools that have been around a few years

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## prakel

> Was it a ...


That was the one, sad thing is, taken away from a public audience he actually comes across quite different. No bad feeling, just frustration. I should have known better than to even consider getting involved.

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## prakel

> Hi Prakel 
> 
> I bought a drill a few days ago......


Now THAT is funny. I seem to be getting analogies thrown at me from all angles this week!!

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## GRIZZLY

> That's so true 
> I bet your woodworking bench has some tools that have been around a few years


I used to make Windsor chairs amongst other furniture and I was donated a set of original chair making tools from High Wycombe, which used to be the centre of early chair making. I guess they are possibly 200 years old and still work more efficiently than modern alternatives. Also the steel from which they are made is of far better quality than the modern mass produced rubbish. They hold a better edge and for much longer. There's no doubt that when people had to earn their livings with hand tools, the tools that were produced were made and developed to  be of maximum efficiency. I still have a workshop full of all the power tools tho' as well.

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## GRIZZLY

> That was the one, sad thing is, taken away from a public audience he actually comes across quite different. No bad feeling, just frustration. I should have known better than to even consider getting involved.


You sure your name isn't PRICKLE !!

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## Jon

> Now THAT is funny. I seem to be getting analogies thrown at me from all angles this week!!


I actually read through that Beesource thread for the first time this morning.
The man is in a time warp.
Posting the same thing for the past 5 years and has taken on board very little even though many people are looking at practical ways to select for a more mite tolerant bee.
There are better places to discuss varroa tolerance than a thread with Mike B in it,  although I noticed he told the yanks it was not possible to discuss varroa tolerance in the UK forums. Scotland must already be Independent then as it has come up often enough on this forum in a constructive way.

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## Pete L

> I actually read through that Beesource thread for the first time this morning.
> The man is in a time warp.


I think it is quite an interesting thread, minus that character.

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## Jon

It was interesting. Thanks for the heads up about it.
The guy has an impressive ego.

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## prakel

> I actually read through that Beesource thread for the first time this morning.
> The man is in a time warp.
> Posting the same thing for the past 5 years and has taken on board very little even though many people are looking at practical ways to select for a more mite tolerant bee.


Start to finish in one go? Impressive. It's not even a time warp, at least I don't think it is, there seems to be a common ignorance (in a nice way) with regards to live or let die type selection; as far as I can tell the one's who appear to be succeeding in a large way over a serious number of years are all very experienced beekeepers who put the work in, they're not the guys who walk away in absolute knowledge that they can go back in x-years to reap the benefit of natural selection. 

Anyway, this thread should be about storms outside of teacups.

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## Jon

bonus points for bringing the thread back on topic!

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## The Drone Ranger

Wind not to bad today since we changed the dog food (nearly on topic)
Will this mild December weather result in a bad varroa Spring 2014 ?
This years harsh Spring conditions might have restricted their numbers

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## Jon

> Wind not to bad today since we changed the dog food (nearly on topic)

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## fatshark

Jon
I'd hate to look through your browsers 'history'  where do you find these things? The vid was OK until almost exactly 2 minutes in (I'll not spoil it for others) when I had to hit the stop button  :EEK!: 

DR
More than time enough yet for a cold snap but, at least in the balmy Midlands, not yet cold enough for long enough to use OA. What I'd like is a month of frosts and daytime temperatures in low single figures, followed by an early warm Spring. A protracted cold period like that should be enough to finish off really weak colonies and will force the others to stop brood rearing and cluster properly. I think you're right about the 2013 Spring - most of the colonies I looked at had very low mite counts.

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## The Drone Ranger

Hi fatshark
Do you think those Russian Primorski ? bees show resistance partly due to the weather
Maybe a century of bad winters meant enough of them survived to develop resistance
Resistance is one of those subjects that tends to get peoples backs up


Regards timing oxalic I just treat them for Varroa anyway and monitor the drop
When I did a bit of fishing there was always the temptation to wait for "ideal " conditions
That usually meant hardly ever going fishing at all 
So I just went out when it suited me and probably caught the same anyway (not much)

Sorry about the analogy there  :Smile: 

In the eating competition lucky for him he only took on an Alsatian if it was a Beagle there would be no chance

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## Jon

My Lab cross would whip both of them, Alsatian and human alike.
Greediest dog in Ireland.
Never gets tinned dog food as that is a recipe for mighty wind.
That Alsatian was lightweight with the carrots and the human struggled with the meaty chunks.
Our animal would eat a bowl of orange peel.

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## busybeephilip

Lucky for me your mutt recognizes good beekeepers !

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## wee willy

A mighty wind is battering Lancashire as I type. It's the strongest gale I remember for a number of years .Down draft from chimney prevents the lighting of a fire !
Bound to be structural damage .
WW 


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## Trog

Hurricane force 12 forecast for here tonight  :Frown:   Flood warnings for Helensburgh and Oban on the high tide in case any beekeepers there are reading this and have hives at sea-level.  Trees (and boat) really taking a battering this winter ... but is a boat any safer ashore where fin-keelers and trees can topple over onto it?  As for the hives ...well, let's just hope the trees and their branches stay put ...

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## gavin

Hardly breezy here, but I hear that will change later.

I reckon I'd have a decent chance if I challenged the cat.  Those Tesco pouches of various meats in jelly look quite appealing in their own way, and she'd turn her nose up at any allotment produce (other than a rodent perhaps).  And back on the wind topic, I didn't realise until fairly recently that they can be quite flatulent too.

I was brave enough to persist beyond the 2 min mark in the video.  Wish I hadn't.

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## mbc

> Wish I hadn't.


Me neither.
FWIW its raining horizontal cats and dogs here right now.

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## fatshark

Even here in middle England it's been blowing a hoolie tonight  a roof had lifted on a stack of supers strapped up in the garden and the rain was so strong at one point the FreeSat signal cut out. Having read the post from Trog I checked the BBC website for weather on Mull  
MullWeather.jpg
 with no symbol (the two dashes), low temperatures, 45mph winds, 100% humidity and visibility "not applicable" I don't really think I've got anything to grumble about. Hope it's all OK.

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## gavin

> Even here in middle England it's been blowing a hoolie tonight


So pleased that your time up here wasn't wasted!  

Don't worry about Aonach Mor. Its often like that there. The hoolie has now arrived here.  

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## Trog

> Even here in middle England it's been blowing a hoolie tonight  a roof had lifted on a stack of supers strapped up in the garden and the rain was so strong at one point the FreeSat signal cut out. Having read the post from Trog I checked the BBC website for weather on Mull  
> Attachment 1937
>  with no symbol (the two dashes), low temperatures, 45mph winds, 100% humidity and visibility "not applicable" I don't really think I've got anything to grumble about. Hope it's all OK.


Pressure's been dropping like a stone since teatime and the reason there's no observation is probably because the observer can't see for rain ... or they've been blown over!  Still got power and internet, though  :Smile:

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## snimmo243

I left Glasgow an hour ago the scaffolding at queen st station wad taking a battering, seemed to be similar all way back to Edinburgh. I've just finished work heading out to car park and there is but a mild breeze in central edinburgh

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## greengumbo

It was howling from about 6pm last night up here. Our holly tree was bent double and I'm not sure how the newly planted cherry will have done. Hives all okay though. Was dodging gorse bushes that had been uprooted along the road on the way back from work though.

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## Trog

I've never seen the pressure drop that fast before ... rose at a similar rate around 3am. That was a wild, wild night.  A eucalyptus snapped at the apiary and could easily have flattened several hives.  However, all it did was to shift a twinstock sideways by 6 inches and, thanks to our readily-propolising bees, the whole thing stayed intact; the floor didn't shift at all, just moved with the rest of the hive!

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## Jon

Just went up to do Oxalic treatment on 10 colonies I have at my allotment to discover the mighty wind had blown down a pallet fence on top of a couple of hives. A hive and a poly nuc had been knocked off their stands but both were upright and had not come apart so no harm done I think.

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## wee willy

Definately no dead bees on flagstones under hive stands  :Smile: 
The gales have done a good clean up job!
WW 


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## gavin

Time to give you food for thought as it has been a little quiet on here today.  That Mighty Wind business, are we experiencing more than normal? 

It turns out that winter winds are strongly associated with the state of the NAO, the North Atlantic Oscillation.  Maybe that shouldn't be surprising as the NAO reflects the state of the pressure systems over the N Atlantic, which themselves drive the winds.  Anyway, see how close they are:


(from this presentation: http://www.gl-garradhassan.com/asset..._in_the_UK.pdf)

Unlike the El Nino Southern Oscillation, the NAO is less regular and periodic (and thankfully probably less dramatic).  When the NAO is high we tend to get westerlies and when it is low the low pressure systems head further south and we get cold air.  There was an exceptionally negative phase of the NAO (coupled with an El Nino warm phase which adds to the effect) in 2009-2010 which brought us that very cold winter.  If I'm understanding this right:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_oscillation

the strongly negative phase of the NAO also warmed the Canadian side and thence the Arctic sea ice melted more than usual the following summer.  That in turn drives cold air into Western Europe the subsequent winter, prolonging the run of cold winters.  Where that leaves us now in 2013-2014 I've no idea.

PS  John, do you have Scottish ancestors?  That is definitely a Glaswegian phonetic spelling of the word!




> Definately no dead bees on flagstones under hive stands

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## Bridget

Arrived back from the south last night to find no power.  Quick trip round the hamlet confirmed we were alone in the dark so quick call to the hydro who, once they had worked out where we live, said Colin was on his way.  Colin duly turned up 30 mins later, notable for his shaven head adorned only with a head torch, power back on in 15 mins after a trudge to the transformer, in the wind and snow.  Great work these cheerful electric boys do in rubbish conditions.  Of to the next job in the dark and cold. We didn't even have to cook our tea on the WOOD burner this time. :0)
Dog and I woken at 5.30am  by a tree which lost a limb last week finally falling over.  
PS Colin says they have been warned to expect another big storm Monday/Tuesday - so the one forecast for today will just be a small one then.  Good!


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## fatshark

Going by this lot 
131227-043.jpg
 last night was the worst yet. However, nothing compared to Wales and the North West I suspect.

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## Jon

I haven't been out to check the out apiaries yet and we had a really wild and windy night here.
My 8 apideas are still on the shelf at the back of the shed.

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## Black Comb

Been pretty bad here. 2 power cuts but thankfully overnight.
Just checked my hives and the only thing was one with the roof partly blown off. My fault for only putting one brick on top.
The hive itself is the heaviest of all this winter. Last week weighed 32 kgs (approx) with roof off. It never moved.

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## Jon

Just checked bees at the association apiary. One polynuc had lost its roof - was a brick short of a load on that one. The bees were still alive so probably no harm done.
A stack of empty broods and supers had blown over as well.
Branches down everywhere and the river is in spate.

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## drumgerry

Well we've got off lightly here.  Been in the eye of the storm and the winds have been light apart from a gust or two last night.  Hope the rest of you and your bees are safe.

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## Bridget

Just seen pictures of Portland.  What's the name of the guy who has an apiary there.  The winds and waves were so strong they knocked over stacks in the sea and the Chesil bank has been flattened.  There was a great tin beach cafe there and they had oyster beds as well. Terrible storms poor things. I hope his bees have survived.


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## prakel

> Just seen pictures of Portland.  What's the name of the guy who has an apiary there.  The winds and waves were so strong they knocked over stacks in the sea and the Chesil bank has been flattened.  There was a great tin beach cafe there and they had oyster beds as well. Terrible storms poor things. I hope his bees have survived.


I'm meant to be taking life easy as a 'lurker', but it would be rude not to reply...

Thanks for the kind thoughts, we've certainly had 'some weather' this winter. 

I'm pleased to say that all of our colonies in their clifftop homes are fine, looking good so far, mind we do make liberal use of large slabs of Portland stone to keep them in place. If anything, at the moment, I'm more concerned about an inland apiary on the side of a pond which I won't be able to get to untill Saturday.

This winter is proving an excellent test for our homemade economy miniplus hives; correx floor, OSB3 box and a single slab of kingspan for the roof.

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## Bridget

And again today Prakel enormous waves pounding the Chesil Bank.  Hope the hives survive this storm as well.  Mine are just feeling the cold.  Not been out for months and the the temp never been higher than 7degrees and usually a lot less.



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## fatshark

Very windy in the Midlands as well … a stack of 24 supers were blown over (3 x 8 high, not a single stack!) and some of the poly ones took a bit of a beating. There were still a few hardy bees flying.

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## prakel

> And again today Prakel enormous waves pounding the Chesil Bank.  Hope the hives survive this storm as well.  Mine are just feeling the cold.  Not been out for months and the the temp never been higher than 7degrees and usually a lot less.


Yet again, we've come through without any casualties. Well, we did loose a Lyson mating nuc early in the week -to a gang of horses that broke through the fence-line in search of shelter so that's technically a loss to the storms I suppose. The box itself stood up well, solid bits of kit, so I'm not going to cry over the loss.

I did raid the gym for 10kg plates to add to the stones on top of each box as an extra precaution, no easy task with a right hand that's still out of use. That's the problem with these all-terrain Armstrong Hive Lifters; sourcing spare parts is a nightmare.

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## gavin

Good that you're surviving the challenging weather.  Up here we've had it windy and wet for a while, but obviously not as bad as the SW.  Today is sunny and yesterday wasn't too bad either.

The gym?  10kg plates?!  I wonder what things, other than bricks, blocks and Orkney stone people use to keep their hives in place.  

It is good to know that there are useful aids to lift hive parts when we have a need such as infirmity, age or a sudden dearth of beginners keen to help out!  Although I have to say it is a while since I've had to deal with a high stack of boxes.  Is this an Armstrong Hive Lift?




G.

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## prakel

That's the modern version, we're still using the old model!

edit: which, when it's working properly is much faster and more mobile...

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## wee willy

Looks unstable to me , unwieldy ., he's crushed myriad bess, more than once in his cack handed attempt at replacing a floor which I see he managed to reverse . Mmmh! Intentional? 
I wouldn't have posted my video until I'd got it a little slicker than that!
WW 


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## prakel

> Today is sunny and yesterday wasn't too bad either.


Which sounds almost idyllic, but I don't think I'd want to trade our once-in-a-while storms for your annual snow!

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## prakel

> Looks unstable to me , unwieldy


Sums up a lot of beekeeping toys (and a few of their owners)  :Smile:

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## wee willy

:Smile: ))))  :Smile: 
WW 


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## gavin

> Which sounds almost idyllic, but I don't think I'd want to trade our once-in-a-while storms for your annual snow!


Yes, and right at the moment I'd trade your moderate westerly blast for our one from the polar regions!  Thanks to Juanse for posting this on Bee-L.  It explains why that nice day has turned rather cold - a rather sharp division in where our winds are coming from.

http://earth.nullschool.net/#current...5.96,44.60,300

G.

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## prakel

lol. Didn't feel very moderate the other day, stood on the cliffs at Blacknor Fort, but  then, I'm just a soft Southerner :Smile:

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## Beefever

I must say, Gavin, the link you’ve reposted is very impressive.  I’ve come to realise how the jet stream influences our weather and this gives an idea what’s happening.

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## gavin

> I must say, Gavin, the link youve reposted is very impressive.  Ive come to realise how the jet stream influences our weather and this gives an idea whats happening.


Right now you can see a depression developing off Canada, presumably the one that will hit on Wednesday.  Very impressive is right.  I'm wondering about making it my home page.

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