Huge Limb Crashed on 3 Hives
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 9:15 pm
Title says it all. I had just finished doing some yard work when I heard that ominous sound of tree cracking (the same sound when the chainsaw is 90% through and the tree starts to fall). I located the branch and with my luck noticed its trajectory was headed for my hives. The tree started to fall but the limb got hung in a Y branch on an adjacent tree. It stopped the fall, or I thought. After waiting for 30 minutes, I pondered my next move. Should I leave the hives where they are or should I move them (and possibly risk my life).
5 minutes later, the limb fell from 65 feet. It broke free from the main trunk and the Y-branch of the adjacent tree acted as a pivot causing the tree to somersault towards the hives. By a miracle, it landed 3 inches behind my large hives. However, the force of the landing caused the limb to bounce, right on my 2 large hives, pushing the supers over and down a hill. Bees were everywhere. I suited up and they found holes in my pants that I didn't know I had. I started putting the supers back together and struggled since they are all the same color. It was hard to discern if I was placing the right supers on the right hives. I called Rob for backup and we got it reassembled. I think Rob broke a Toyota pickup truck land speed record.
With great fortune, the only damage was a cracked screened bottom board where the limb bounced and landed directly on it. I hauled off the limb and it weight in at a heafty 1500 lbs.
I captured the initial limb popping just prior to it's falling. I didn't realize that I narrated until after watching the video, so have a joke on me. Aftermath pictures tells the rest of the story. The girls made a full recovery.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/cBaeDxYmVybRuWbT9
5 minutes later, the limb fell from 65 feet. It broke free from the main trunk and the Y-branch of the adjacent tree acted as a pivot causing the tree to somersault towards the hives. By a miracle, it landed 3 inches behind my large hives. However, the force of the landing caused the limb to bounce, right on my 2 large hives, pushing the supers over and down a hill. Bees were everywhere. I suited up and they found holes in my pants that I didn't know I had. I started putting the supers back together and struggled since they are all the same color. It was hard to discern if I was placing the right supers on the right hives. I called Rob for backup and we got it reassembled. I think Rob broke a Toyota pickup truck land speed record.
With great fortune, the only damage was a cracked screened bottom board where the limb bounced and landed directly on it. I hauled off the limb and it weight in at a heafty 1500 lbs.
I captured the initial limb popping just prior to it's falling. I didn't realize that I narrated until after watching the video, so have a joke on me. Aftermath pictures tells the rest of the story. The girls made a full recovery.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/cBaeDxYmVybRuWbT9