Rainfall records and beehive fall in epic storm

The first storm of the season, and it was indeed a whopper, nearly toppled the St. Francis Hive.  I looked out the window around 1:30 this afternoon to see the SFH tilting way back leaning against the fence.  All three of us ran downstairs to the backyard in the pouring rain and sprang into action.  Firefly jumped in the puddles, Beth steadied the hive and I light the smoker and threw on the bee suit.  Beth said it took me forever to put on my suit - I guess time gets weird when you're holding up a 100 lb beehive (2 medium supers over 2 medium brood boxes) in gusty winds and heavy rains.

With Beth holding the hive upright, box by box I repositioned it to the lower garden bed and used four bricks as a base. No one was stung, however several bees drowned when they came out to see what the heck was going on.

The hive was on a stand made by my friend Greg, the sheet metal man. I thought it was a great idea to have a custom built stand that would keep the wooden hive off the damp ground. I didn't think about record breaking rainfall soaking the raised beds and causing the metal legs to sink unevenly into the mud.  But that's what happened - thanks be to God we were home to see it.  There was no time to photograph this event - after I redesign the stand, I'll post some pics.  Greg at NuStar Heating and Metal Supply is wonderful, he can make anything, will give you the best price and you can trust him. For the record, the beehive stand was my design.