Hurricane Harvey sneaked up on me. My wife and I left the Houston area 7 days prior to Hurricane Harvey hitting the Texas coast. We were celebrating our daughter’s wedding up in gorgeous Aspen Colorado. We decided to stay a little longer and returned on August 25th……coinciding with the arrival of Harvey. United pilot flew in through the storm bands circulating with Harvey and touched down whisper smooth!
On August 19th, the day after we left for Colorado, the National Hurricane Center indicated that Harvey’s circulation was disintegrating. No worries, huh? Once the storm crossed the Yucatan Peninsula and passed into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico the energy and circulation increased. Well, my bees, in a couple of locations, were at risk from potential winds.
My biggest worry was my top bar hive in Splendora. Less of a worry were my 3 hives located up off Russel Palmer at the western edge of Kingwood. My protege, Max, took it upon himself to ratchet strap the boxes and top bar to prevent wind damage on Thursday, the day before the winds and rain began to kick up here. I had to thank him from a distance.
The top bar in the background and a triple deep Langstroth in the foreground. At the right, is an 8 frame garden hive that I had placed a strap on several weeks prior to leaving.
Now…..to Splendora. My two Langstroth hive tops were weighted down – one with a large disc brake rotor and the other with a old rusty hydraulic jack. The top bar hive was MY BIG worry. I had a couple of mechanic’s wire tie downs for the top but…….after repeated use they had broken off too short…I hadn’t yet got a “round to it” given to me to fix them …….so, Friday, the day of the Hurricane as we were driving down out of the Rocky Mountain National Park, my Goo friend John and I discussed having him repair the wire tie downs…..He was my “round to it”.
John is an over achiever and wound up putting straps on all three hives….Thanks John!
In addition to a strap on the top bar in the background he added some bricks….well done lad!
Now, to wait out this storm and hope the bees tolerate the rain! I hope my curiosity can be held in check …….. I want to visit my bees! Almost 5 inches of rain in the last 24 hours and much, much more is expected.
TTFN
Bishop
From My Backyard 
Aug 26, 2017 @ 19:42:24
Wow! Thanks for gettin’ back home to the Bee Bee’s…roun’ yon’ here, we call ’em Bay Bees..😆 Lol!
I’m glad to hear your home. I was wondering how you and Kathy may be faring and how much of the storm would be e/affecting y’all. Keep the hatches battened and get out your camera. I’m grateful to be here in the Bay Area at times like this. Keep us posted! Take care! 👋🏽🙏🏽😎
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Aug 26, 2017 @ 19:55:11
Oh my Bishop thinking of you and your wife, home, and the BEES! Cheryl
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Aug 26, 2017 @ 22:25:45
Great to have friends like John to help out when you were away. Did you check on the bees yet?
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Aug 26, 2017 @ 22:56:23
Thanks for asking. In one of the breaks in heavy rain I put my rubber boots on and visited. I was surprised to see some coming and going in the light rain. It will be a tough few days for the foragers!
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Sep 10, 2017 @ 16:03:05
We’ve been thinking of you with every weather report. Having lived in Florida, I realize that hurricane reporting is subject to the same sensationalism as California earthquakes. But it would be good to get an update from you . . .
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Sep 10, 2017 @ 21:10:06
We survived high and dry. 1/4 mile away toward the river folks were not so lucky. The San Jacinto River here crested at record heights. We have helped several families cut out sheet rock above the water line, haul out carpet and ruined furniture. Lots of feel good stories with folks stepping up to help, Cajun Navy rolled in with airboats to rescue people. Maybe a million cars flooded and totaled out. Very costly! I had a friend that couldn’t get to his house due to flooding for 10 days.
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