We had a major wind storm here Sunday night and it blew over one of my hives. 46 mph wind. Temps them dropped into the 30’s and then had low’s in the 20’s most nights since. I was pleased to find a nice size cluster thriving when I put it back together today. So 4 days of being totally exposed and the cluster lives. Just amazing!
I assume the queen is alive since the cluster is good sized.
Amazing story and ever so lucky. Probably the bees clustered about her to keep her warm etc. You won’t know for sure till you can do an inspection and can confirm brood. But fingers crossed. 
Out of curiosity more than anything else, was this hive originally setting on the gravel like it shown, or was it on a concrete pad to the left of the photo. Since it looks like it was in a fenced in area. Do you think it was only the wind that knocked everything over?
This is got be concerned, for myself, for I am looking at placing hives in an open area where there is really no wind break, and I’m planning on initially using the FH2 legs. Do plan on sitting them independently on concrete pads that I purchased at the hardware store.
Also, do you think there was too much weight in the boxes above that may have aided in it being top-heavy? Which box were the cluster of bees in the one that’s wedged in the hive stand? Which that’s what it looks like from here.
This is an amazing story. Thank you for sharing
Wow, sounds like a miracle that they made it through that!! So glad 
Great question.
@Plutoman15, I’d imagine the stand is in situ. Interesting stands btw. What I see is that the hive was sitting on a rebate, or rabbit, on the stand and the legs have spread apart and the hive has dropped as a conciquence. The hive to the right is fine and it looks like it is sitting on a base on the stand giving better stability.
Is the hive configuration, brood box, feeder box with an empty super on top? If so then it should have been bottom heavy and if anything only the top boxes should have blown off.
Either way, glad you were able to help the colony and hope the make it into the next season.
The black stand in the pic is where it normally sit. The pad to the left is extra. The reason it fell is I bought scales for my hives last summer but they fit a 10 frame box and mine are 8 frame boxes and stands. I bought replacement cross bars to convert them to the correct width for the scales but never converted this hive. As you can see the hive to the right sits down in like it is suppose to. The hive that fell was sitting on too of the stand. i think the wind shifted it enough to fall down in the stand. I have since replaced with the wider cross posts and it now sits like the one on the right.
The cluster was in the bottom box which is the one in the stand sitting sideways. It was still glued to the bottom board which probably helped with cutting the draft down even though the top was wide open. If you look closely you can see the cluster. They weren’t moving much when I first saw them but as I put it back together they definitely came alive. I added some sugar and they seem glad to have access to the upper brood box since the is still good stores in it. They did seem hungry for sugar.
I left the feeder on all winter even though it is empty because the cluster was clinging to the bottom often when I would inspect them. It also provided a little space to keep some sugar underneath it. So it was bottom board, brood box, brood box, then empty feeder. The top brood box has some weight to it with stores. Not sure how much stores are left in the bottom brood box.
The big issue was having the scale and board across the top of the stand instead of inside the stand where the ledge is. 45 mph wind slid it too far.
This is not in a fenced area. It is along my pasture but not in it. Quite sure the wind did this.
So far I am 5 for 5 for hives surving this winter. I thought I had lost one when I saw this but the hive lives!
Joe
Great report, thank you very much
Reason I’m asking and concern is I am getting the FH2 with legs. I’ll be putting them on concrete pads, under each leg ultimately I want to build a concrete pad fully underneath similar to what you have here. Concern about stability for I’m use to a stand that would hold to hives at one time, about 6 feet long.
If your other hives held up to that wind I’m sure the flow hive 2 will hold up as well.
Also but I was remembering is seeing other hives that are 4,5, and 6 boxes heigh and they don’t tip over
therefore it’s likely just an unfounded concern as long as its level and unstable ground
Again thank you for this information. It amazes me and always makes me happy to see people share events like this so we can all learn together. This is one hell of a great community
WOW! Thanks for sharing your experience! Makes me happy I can have mine close for visibility. Glad there are survivors!
Of course Marty a hive should sit vertically so that none of the hives weight is outside of its ‘foot print’ otherwise there is already a leverage for it to topple over. Wind on the hive is another leverage and when the wind pressures exceeds the weight of the hive then the hive will fall regardless, of if it was set up vertically. The taller the hive the less wind speed is need for it to topple as the leverage of the wind will increase. The size of the concrete pad and how many hives are on it has no part to play. A hive on a concrete is much more inherently stable, on a soft surface the down wind legs could press into the soil as the weight on those legs increases.
Anything made has limits but I am sure the legs on the FH 2 are well thought out in the design.
Cheers
