HIve took a tumble, now leaking honey...when to fix?

[windfall]

Last Friday in a windstorm, I had a hive take a pretty severe tumble and roll. It was ratcheted together and held. Within a few hours we had it righted and back in place. All looked good Saturday, could hear a buzz inside. Left Sunday AM for holidays, came back yesterday afternoon and could see some honey dripping out the entrance and weeping between the seems of boxs 1-2 (3-8frame deeps) on the side that had been on the ground. Not all that much...maybe a cup or less, hard to tell, and honey doesn't flow so fast at the temps we are in now (4-20F).

Obviously some comb is broken or torn (the intial fall of the hive was broadside to the combs ). My instinct is to say the "die is cast" at this point and leave things alone until early spring. Hard to imagine I would do anything but make it worse even if we got a few days of 45 between now and then....say end of March. The one thing I had considered is getting a few helpers and swapping out the bottom board so they don't have to slog through a sticky mess on the few days we get for cleaning flights during that time. waste of effort?

Being relatively new to this I am wondering when is the best time to get in and fix things. Part of me sees the advantage of doing so before significant brooding begins again, but that is pretty early from what I understand.
It also seems like it would be nice do the work before they have a chance to start repairing/bridging things together while out of place.

this of course all assumes they make it to spring and have not lost/damaged the queen during this adventure.

[kathyp]

that's a tough one.  if you get a warm day, you could take a quick look and see how bad it is.  i am always hesitant to mess with them at a time of the year when the queen can't be replaced.  if the queen has survived the tumble, but you kill her, you are still screwed.  if she has not survived there is not much you can do about it right now.

as for fixing the mess, it won't be so much worse in early spring so if you take a look and it's not to bad, i'd leave it alone.

is this your only hive??

[mikecva]

I would not do anything at this point. Make sure it is squared off and upright with a slight tilt toward the front entrance (5-7 degrees) to help condensation run off. Damage done, is done. The bees might be able to fix things to their liking if possible. I would not open the colony until after 65 degree weather, except to feed. If you open the colony below 65 for any length of time to do your repairs, you may loose the whole colony. Just before you add your first honey super is when I would see if I needed to help with repairs. Even then I would have my fingers crossed hoping I do not have to re-support the brood foundation. If you do or can not support it, move the capped brood to an outer frame position so they can be born then you can completely remove/repair the frame. Remember you may have to loose some bees to save the colony. -Mike  

[kathyp]

I would not open the colony until after 65 degree weather, except to feed

50ish is good enough.  if those of us in the north waited for 65, we'd never look in our hives 

[windfall]

That's the truth Kathy!

It was my strongest hive this summer, but it is just one of 6 plus a couple 2 story nucs I am trying to winter over. So I am not particularly stressed about it.
When I put things to rights friday I did pop the top and peek...nothing grossly obvious from there but I didn't have a flashlight to peer down to any depth.
It isn't all that much honey dripping out, and it was 45 the day it happened and all the next night so there was a chance for some to flow if it was really an awful mess. I am guessing a few combs in the top that were freshly drawn end of summer...most everything else is a couple seasons old.

you guys are pretty much affirming my inclination on this...leave it alone till spring and hope the queen is still alive.

the bottom board was really the only thing I felt I could improve without any significant disturbance or heat loss. But I suppose If I have loose combs in there even a careful lift could shift them and squish someone important.

[iddee]

They will immediately repair where the cluster is. It is 80 or more there. Then they will clean as the temp allows INSIDE the boxes. They will begin to break cluster and repair it all when the inside temp reaches 43. There's nothing you can do but harm. Leave them to their own until the outside temp equals or exceeds the inside temp. 50 plus..

[Michael Bush]

I would stand it up and leave them alone until spring.