15 Ways to Keep Bees Safe During a Hurricane

When you hear that 180+ mile-per-hour winds are heading towards your apiary, what do you do? While not guaranteed, there are some precautions you can take to mitigate damage to your beehives.

If you have other suggestions/tips, please feel free to email us!

1. Safety first. This is obvious, but we have to say it anyway: your life is more important than your colony! Never risk your life or safety for your hives.
2. Start early. Apiary hurricane preparation is just like personal hurricane preparation—starting sooner is much better than rushing or panicking later!
3. Keep some sugar & water on hand. After the storm, your bees’ food supply may have been wiped out. You will want to be able to supply them with something to eat right away.
4. Mark hive location. If you want to return the hives to where they were before the hurricane, especially if you have a lot of hives to manage, take note of the position/location of each hive and write it down for future reference.
5. Move bees away from trees, power lines, and other hazards. You don’t want your hives crushed by falling tree limbs or electrocuted by a live wire during a storm. If you can, move hives away from potential hazards.
6. Place them on high ground. One of the greatest threats to hives during a hurricane is flooding. With up to 20+ feet of surge coming from Hurricane Dorian, placing your beehives as high as you reasonably and safely can help prevent water from getting into the hives. Many beekeepers use concrete/cinder blocks, pallets, or other platforms.
7. …But not on the roof! While we want the bees on high ground, the roof is a dangerous place. Hurricanes can destroy roofs two ways: 1) by sucking off shingles and other roof materials as they pass over, or 2) by breaking a window and letting high-powered wind get in, which can “pop” the roof off. Don’t put beehives on the roof.
8. …And not in your house! Let me repeat: NOT IN YOUR HOUSE. Not in your garage that is attached to your house. We have heard many horror stories about this. You’ve been warned!
9. Take off any feeders. We don’t want them being blown away, becoming projectiles, or letting water in.
10. Close up screen bottom boards. Much like a broken window in a home during a hurricane can result in dangerous wind tunnels, the high winds during a hurricane are dangerous for bees and can create a high-pressure environment inside a hive. Many beekeepers make wind barriers with cardboard or varroa mite check sheet in order to help prevent a potential wind tunnel.
11. Close the entrance OR reduce as small as you can. Closing the entrance fully helps prevent wind and water from getting into the hive but, depending on the season, may also create unsafe high-temperature conditions inside or prevent an escape by bees in the event one is needed. This is why many beekeepers reduce the entrance as much as possible without closing it up entirely. In the event of rising water or the hive being knocked into water, this can give your bees a last-chance escape route. Additionally, after the hurricane, if you are not able to get to your hives immediately, this allows bees to exit the hives.
12. Tilt the hives! Tilting is very important, if you can do it. This will help water exit the hive in the event of water getting in.
13. Secure hives together and/or to a heavy object & Strap hives down. You will need ratchet straps and ground anchors to secure your hive. Securing the hives with ratchet straps will help to keep it in one place and one piece. Consider securing the hives both horizontally and vertically, and securing them all together if you have multiple hives. The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences blog recommends an additional precaution: fastening your hives to a post that you have driven into the ground (click on the link to see a diagram). If you don’t have a post or another sturdy object that you can secure your hives to, use corkscrew ground anchors or another type of ground anchor to tie your hives to the ground.
14. Place something heavy on top. Many beekeepers use cinderblocks or concrete blocks to help weigh down the hives.
15. Put away all apiary equipment. Just like your patio furniture, your apiary equipment should be stored away safely. You don’t want your tools to become dangerous flying projectiles…or to fly away and never be seen from again!

Caring for Beehives After the Storm

1. Don’t dawdle on cleaning up dead hives. Hundreds of dead bees will stink to high heavens after just a few days. Don’t hesitate to clean them up.
2. Don’t bother your bees too much. An inspection can wait, as the hives will likely be very pissy, hungry, and defensive after a storm.
3. Feed your bees. After a storm, flowers, vegetation, and other things that the bees eat may have been blown away. Like we mentioned in #3, keeping sugar and water on hand for sugar syrup can prevent starvation after the fact.  
4. Watch for robbing afterwards. Dearth created by all the flowers and plants being blown away will affect all hives (including neighboring and wild hives) in the area.
5. Reach out to your local or state bee club. If you need help with your bees after the storm, your local bee club is usually a great resource. Or you may be able to offer a helping hand to another beek in need in the aftermath.

Am I missing anything? Feel free to offer any other tips/suggestions here. And, of course, stay safe everybody!