> What knocked the hives over?  There seems to be a large number over or
> on a precarious lean.

It seems that it was the wind from a storm, and possibly, in some cases,
cattle.  The hives are very light at this time of year and go down easily.

The pictures may not be representative, since I only showed the downed
hives, and the same hives possibly more than once.  By far, most hives in
most yards were just fine, but there was a domino effect happening in
several spots.  After fixing up the worst yard, the rest of the day was
mostly just driving in and out of yards, and I took fewer pictures.

> Were they robbed out as there seems to be not many bees in some of the
> supers on the ground?

Some of the hives were empty 'catch' hives waiting for swarms.  Others were
normal producing units.  In the latter, at this time of year, bees are
normally occupying only the second box.  After five years of severe drought,
the bees are not quite as good as we saw last time, but seem OK, especially
considering we only examined the ones that were down and did not open the
standing hives.

The rest of the boxes are empty at this time, but soon the flows will begin
and the hives will expand and fill the rest of the hive.  In the desert, wax
moth is not a problem and no beetles are in the region AFAIK.  Due to the
remoteness, access can be difficult, if the arroyos food and wash out, and,
moreover, flows are unpredictable.   Therefore, the best place to store the
extra equipment is in the yards, on the hives.

We did not see any robbed out, even though the hives may have been down for
a week, and some possibly longer.  The ones that were down had patches of
brood on several frames, and the brood, somewhat surprisingly, seemed OK
despite having been horizontal and the boxes open to weather and other bees.

The boxes on the bottom are pollen traps, presently bypassed, but in place,
ready for use.

See http://beesource.com/pov/dick/bcjun02.htm for more detail from last trip
in 2002.  Charley was along with us on this trip, and maybe he will add his
own comments.

allen
A Beekeeper's Diary: http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/

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