Tree fell on hive

Sometime yesterday a tree fell on two of the hives. One hive was a narrow miss - the hive moved sideways but stayed upright:

The hive was in the centre of the pallet so was been pushed sideways, but miraculously stayed upright.
The nuc wasn’t so lucky:

It was on the left-hand side of the pallet. The base remained on the pallet but the lid and hive were knocked sideways and ended upside down on a slight angle on the ground. While the brick was knocked off, the roof stayed on the hive :crossed_fingers:. The photo is just after I righted it. I could still see bees on the frames and all the frames were still in position.

The nuc bees were agitated but very few came out. The flow hive bees seemed ok and mostly remained in the hive. They didn’t even come out when I cut away branches from the front of the hive with the chainsaw around 20 cm from the hive entrance! That’s all I did late yesterday - clear the flight path for the flow hive and right the nuc. The nuc was very quiet this morning but the flow hive was in full swing. Despite the trauma, I think I’ll have to look in the nuc as soon as it’s warm enough to see what’s what.
Any tips appreciated! Thanks

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Well done @Outbeck . Bees are fairly resilient. However the thing to watch out for with the nuc that finished upside down is hive beetles. If any bees got squashed between combs, or combs got damaged, beetles will take advantage of the situation & lay eggs in squashed bees & or damaged combs, which will lead to a slime-out if the bees are not able to rectify any damage quickly enough.

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It could have been a major disaster so you were very fortunate.
Its always a good idea to strap the hive together so that it stays together if knocked over.

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It could have been. All my hives are strapped aside from the nucs and the long lang, so you live and learn. Yes, I’m very lucky with the fall of the tree. I’m lucky that the nuc lid was telescopic too, otherwise it would’ve definitely slid off too.

Thanks Jeff! So far, I’m lucky enough (touch wood) to not have an issue with SHP. I haven’t spied one in any of the hives this season.

That’s good news re the beetles. You may still need to do an inspection of the nuc, just to make sure that everything is in it’s rightful place, especially if you’ve used any foundationless frames.

I inspected the hive and the bees appear absolutely fine. The frames have significantly filled and the bees seem to be thriving :sweat_smile:. I’ve got off very lightly with only a few twigs to pull out!
I’m in the process of moving the hives a metre a day to get them far enough away to deal with the tree. I think it will be a minimal amount of cutting, then drag the tree away in large pieces with the tractor and chains. The chainsaw with a bee suit on a hot summer’s day :sweat:!
PS. I’m using frames with foundation Jeff :ok_hand:

Well done @Outbeck , just a tip that I use. In hot weather, I do as much work in a bee suit either early morning before breakfast, or later in the afternoon when I’m shaded. Working in a bee suit on a hot day really saps it out of me.

You neighbors wouldn’t appreciate a chain saw buzzing at 5.30 in the morning, I would suspect.