Author Topic: Drying out?  (Read 7119 times)

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Offline Wandering Man

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Drying out?
« on: June 13, 2021, 09:30:26 am »
We’ve had a week of no rain and we are still drying out. A couple of the hives are still standing in water.

My biggest problem is the barn. 3 closed sides and 1 open side. The front is starting to dry out because the wind and sun can get to it. But there is standing water in most of the barn and the mud will suck your boots off.

I’ve got a small generator running that can handle 2 fans, and I started running a fan and a small blower yesterday.

Right now, the air flow is from the back of the barn to the front.

Would they be more effective blowing outside air from the front to the back?

The Outdoor humidity has been running in the upper 90’s. Right now it is at 97%, last night’s low was 94%.


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Offline Bakersdozen

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Re: Drying out?
« Reply #1 on: June 13, 2021, 09:40:21 am »
You replied while I was modifying my post.
Sorry to hear about that Wandering Man.  I Googled your question.  The www is amazing.  Of course all the recommendations are based upon a house, basement, office, etc. being flooded. 
"Acquire many high-powered, air circulator fans and place them throughout the business or house. You want these fans to blow as much air as possible directly onto the wet area."
They also recommend removing anything that may be soggy with water, if you had anything like that stored there.  If possible I would move equipment out so the air could circulate more effectively.

 I just keep thinking about the mosquitos.  :o
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Offline Wandering Man

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Re: Drying out?
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2021, 09:47:45 am »
Sorry to hear about that Wandering Man.  I wish I had an answer to your question.  I just keep thinking about the mosquitos.  :o

The bee jackets are great protection for the mosquitos. I laid down some larvacide, which has helped a little. But we still have plenty.

I’ve got a handheld vacuum in my truck and vacuum up as many as I can after we climb into the truck so I’m not trying to slap them on the way home.

I also have an electric fogger and hit the inside of the barn with malathion or permethrin since they seem to love my barn.
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Offline Bakersdozen

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Re: Drying out?
« Reply #3 on: June 13, 2021, 09:52:36 am »
You replied while I was modifying my post.
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Offline The15thMember

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Re: Drying out?
« Reply #4 on: June 13, 2021, 11:46:42 am »
The bee jackets are great protection for the mosquitos. I laid down some larvacide, which has helped a little. But we still have plenty.

I’ve got a handheld vacuum in my truck and vacuum up as many as I can after we climb into the truck so I’m not trying to slap them on the way home.

I also have an electric fogger and hit the inside of the barn with malathion or permethrin since they seem to love my barn.
Oh that's horrible.  Mosquitoes love me for some reason; I seem to get bites from April-October.  I can't imagine having so many mosquitoes you need to vacuum them up.  I'd be one giant mosquito bite in that environment.  :o   
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Offline Jen

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Re: Drying out?
« Reply #5 on: June 13, 2021, 12:43:00 pm »
Hi there Wman, and here you and I are at opposite ends of the spectrum. You are so wet and with mosquitoes, and I with year round drought to where the ground in our back yard cracks in the summer.

These are the little cracks that begin in spring, nothing like it gets in the dead of summer.


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Offline Wandering Man

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Re: Drying out?
« Reply #6 on: June 13, 2021, 05:40:56 pm »

Oh that's horrible.  Mosquitoes love me for some reason; I seem to get bites from April-October.  I can't imagine having so many mosquitoes you need to vacuum them up.  I'd be one giant mosquito bite in that environment.  :o

I bought the vacuum after the first outbreak of mosquitos.  My truck has four door, a back window, and a sunroof.  I spent the whole trip home dangerously opening and closing windows to suck the mosquitos out, rather than paying attention to the road.  I overheated the motor on the driver's side window.  I decided there had to be a better way, and immediately thought of the Bushkill Bee vacuum.   C:-) C:-) 

I don't care if the mosquitoes die in the process of getting vacuumed up, so I ran to Lowe's and bought the cheapest battery powered hand vac they had.  It works great.  I've sucked up a little Sevin dust to coat the filter, and the mosquitoes are dead by the next day.

It's still dangerous to do the vacuuming while driving, so I try to get them all before I head home.

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Offline Wandering Man

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Re: Drying out?
« Reply #7 on: June 13, 2021, 05:42:21 pm »
Hi there Wman, and here you and I are at opposite ends of the spectrum. You are so wet and with mosquitoes, and I with year round drought to where the ground in our back yard cracks in the summer.

These are the little cracks that begin in spring, nothing like it gets in the dead of summer.



The droughts suck.  We'd been praying for rain for two years.  Just not this much of it.  Or at least not this much in such a short time.
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Offline Wandering Man

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Re: Drying out?
« Reply #8 on: June 13, 2021, 05:46:03 pm »
I've been reading about folks who keep animals in their barns, and decided to give Lime a try.  I put 250# down this afternoon and moved the fans so they now blow from the opening into the barn.  I think they are helping a little. 

The mud is so wet in places that it's a little like using a fans to drain a swimming pool.

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