A Welsh Flow Hive Harvest

[Erichalfbee]

I didn't mean that.
Yes a nice feel good article from a family that's tried it wouldn't go amiss, surely?
Yes a more scientific approach is always a good thing but we are talking about honey for the table not the supermarket. Does any body else jump through hoops with their honey if it for personal consumption only! The WBKA mag needs an article that not written by Wally or Jenny Shaw or David Heaf

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

You haven't received the winter edition of the mag yet then obviously. There's also an article in there from some nutter who only put insulation in the roof and makes his own floors

 

[Hivemaker.]

There's also an article in there from some nutter who only put insulation in the roof and makes his own floors

OMG, really......the bees will DIE.

 

[Erichalfbee]

You haven't received the winter edition of the mag yet then obviously. There's also an article in there from some nutter who only put insulation in the roof and makes his own floors

Maybe I've been struck off the mailing list for putting a cosy on a couple of hives last year

 

[Swarm]

I thought your posts were a bit odd, you must have upset someone.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Odd?
Upset someone? ......Not intentionally

 

[REDWOOD]

Nobody I know and would be very surprised if you did


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Swarm]

Just a figure of speech, the WBKA winter issue has been out for a while, with an article on the flow hive.

 

[Erichalfbee]

ooo errr

I better look in the pile of unopened magazines.

 

[Tremyfro]

I expect by now everyone has read the article on the Flow hive. Luckily Xmas is just around the corner so the spotlight will be on what beekeepery items we all want under the tree.
My super of Flow frames are cleaned, dry and wrapped ready for next year.
A toy?...a gadget?.....yes possibly....but one which does what it says on the box....which is rare.
The Flow frames lent a new dimension...a heightening of expectation...and a whole lot of fun to this years beekeeping.
The advent of the Flow frames...singularly....brought many more people into beekeeping. Some will stay, others will leave. Whatever happens...more information about bees will be shared around communities.
Although, I am of the opinion that the Flow frames would be prohibitively expensive for commercial use...or even for the smaller bee farmers....for the hobbyist they are huge fun with a very practical use.
I'm now looking forward to a second season with them...wishing I had more of them.....and waiting to see how they perform.

 

[pargyle]

I expect by now everyone has read the article on the Flow hive. Luckily Xmas is just around the corner so the spotlight will be on what beekeepery items we all want under the tree.
My super of Flow frames are cleaned, dry and wrapped ready for next year.
A toy?...a gadget?.....yes possibly....but one which does what it says on the box....which is rare.
The Flow frames lent a new dimension...a heightening of expectation...and a whole lot of fun to this years beekeeping.
The advent of the Flow frames...singularly....brought many more people into beekeeping. Some will stay, others will leave. Whatever happens...more information about bees will be shared around communities.
Although, I am of the opinion that the Flow frames would be prohibitively expensive for commercial use...or even for the smaller bee farmers....for the hobbyist they are huge fun with a very practical use.
I'm now looking forward to a second season with them...wishing I had more of them.....and waiting to see how they perform.

If you carry on like this they will probably send you some free ones like Ratchatcher got for extolling their virtues ... Mind you, even if you don't, there'll be plenty on ebay next spring ...

 

[Erichalfbee]

Mind you, even if you don't, there'll be plenty on ebay next spring ...

They appear on ebay already...and on the Flow FB page but they seem to be holding their prices and selling.....

 

[Tremyfro]

I'm hoping that those beekeepers who found beekeeping not to their liking....will sell off their flow frames.....but I'm not holding my breath!
I think they have been so successful for so many people that they will hold their value.
Who knows what Santa might have in his sack?

 

[maddydog]

Who knows what Santa might have in his sack?

He'll be walking funny if it's a flow frame!

Seriously, fair play to you for trying them and posting about your experiences in spite of the ridicule at times. I wonder how many members of the forum have spent far more money on a little red sports car to recapture their 'glory' days......

 

[Tremyfro]

Ha ha......you are right Maddydog.
I could, of course, have just kept quiet but it seemed to me that the essence of the forum is sharing information. I did expect to be have some people poke fun...although it has been unpleasant at times...mainly, since I was only reporting my own experience I hoped everyone realised that I didn't have all the answers. The main thing though was that we found out that...the crowd funding was genuine and the Flows were delivered. That the flow frames performed well and the harvest using them .....was amazing.
I'm sure a second season will add to our knowledge of them.
In regards to the cost...well as you say....we all spend our money where we get the most enjoyment from it.

 

[pargyle]

Ha ha......you are right Maddydog.
I could, of course, have just kept quiet but it seemed to me that the essence of the forum is sharing information. I did expect to be have some people poke fun...although it has been unpleasant at times...mainly, since I was only reporting my own experience I hoped everyone realised that I didn't have all the answers. The main thing though was that we found out that...the crowd funding was genuine and the Flows were delivered. That the flow frames performed well and the harvest using them .....was amazing.
I'm sure a second season will add to our knowledge of them.
In regards to the cost...well as you say....we all spend our money where we get the most enjoyment from it.

I think you are preaching mostly to the unconverted on here - whilst I share (and endorse) your desire to tread an independent path in your beekeeping I still revert back to the Flow Hive Team's initial marketing and the fact that they encouraged a large number of people to become beekeepers on the premise that 'Flow frames make beekeeping easy'. Their original marketing was, to say the least, disingenuous and whilst they have tempered their later media offerings with advice to join associations etc. I'm not sure that I can forgive them for their earlier, highly misleading, advertising.

I remain sceptical about the efficacy of what seems to me to be an expensive, unecessary, toy which does little to enhance anything in beekeeping and has encouraged, in many cases, misguided people to become beekeepers - many of whom, it is acknowledged, are already giving up on the basis that it is not a simple as was portrayed.

I am no Luddite but I don't think that the Flow frames will stand the test of time or prove to be the godsend to the idle beekeeper that their marketing promised. The gilding of the marketing will wear thin as the reality of beekeeping abrades the concept and they will join the masses of other beekeeping inventions sold to save us time, help our bees and give us more ... of anything .... that lurk in the dark corners of our chambers of secrets - unloved and unwanted and an embarrassment on our bank accounts that we would prefer not to confront.

Give it a few years and the beekeeping auctions will be full of them and people will say 'oh yes - I remember those things' and the auctioneer will be banging down the hammer for a couple of quid to some poor mug who has just started their beekeeping journey and knows no better.

Credit to the Flow Hive Inventors who should try to exit from the business before the flow recedes and I wish them well and hope they are able to hang on to a few of the millions so they can enjoy the rest of their eco-friendly. low tech, lives without having to worry about where the next litre of used vegetable oil to fuel the ute is going to come from. They will probably go down in history as the only people ever to make a fortune out of keeping bees ... or, well, 'er not keeping bees ... if they have the sense to get out whilst there is still a flow on ...

 

[For want of a better word]

I think you are preaching mostly to the unconverted on here - whilst I share (and endorse) your desire to tread an independent path in your beekeeping I still revert back to the Flow Hive Team's initial marketing and the fact that they encouraged a large number of people to become beekeepers on the premise that 'Flow frames make beekeeping easy'. Their original marketing was, to say the least, disingenuous and whilst they have tempered their later media offerings with advice to join associations etc. I'm not sure that I can forgive them for their earlier, highly misleading, advertising.

I remain sceptical about the efficacy of what seems to me to be an expensive, unecessary, toy which does little to enhance anything in beekeeping and has encouraged, in many cases, misguided people to become beekeepers - many of whom, it is acknowledged, are already giving up on the basis that it is not a simple as was portrayed.

I am no Luddite but I don't think that the Flow frames will stand the test of time or prove to be the godsend to the idle beekeeper that their marketing promised. The gilding of the marketing will wear thin as the reality of beekeeping abrades the concept and they will join the masses of other beekeeping inventions sold to save us time, help our bees and give us more ... of anything .... that lurk in the dark corners of our chambers of secrets - unloved and unwanted and an embarrassment on our bank accounts that we would prefer not to confront.

Give it a few years and the beekeeping auctions will be full of them and people will say 'oh yes - I remember those things' and the auctioneer will be banging down the hammer for a couple of quid to some poor mug who has just started their beekeeping journey and knows no better.

Credit to the Flow Hive Inventors who should try to exit from the business before the flow recedes and I wish them well and hope they are able to hang on to a few of the millions so they can enjoy the rest of their eco-friendly. low tech, lives without having to worry about where the next litre of used vegetable oil to fuel the ute is going to come from. They will probably go down in history as the only people ever to make a fortune out of keeping bees ... or, well, 'er not keeping bees ... if they have the sense to get out whilst there is still a flow on ...

I know of at least three new beekeepers who have fallen into the " honey easy for free" trap..... it seems that the package bees they bought were not "up to the job"... and it was the bees not the crank operated Flow's frames at fault for the system to dismally fail.

I now feel a bit guilty as when they informed me that they had bought these beekeeping peculiarities ( Flow's Hives) I was not too forthcoming to make up nucs on Langstroth's frames to sell them and suggested that they get some experience from a season at least beekeeping on standard Nationals with time tested removable pre waxed wired super frames.

One chap at least did have a small success as he bought one of the ApiMay plastic hives, and with a bit of mentoring from another ApiMay user at least managed to get his bees into Winter on the Langstroth frames.

As an aside it seems the local honey harvest as down 40% on 2015 season... which was not a good one.... perhaps this added to the Flow's hive failure?

I wonder what the situation will be in another 10 years time, when someone revisits this thread?

Nos da

 

[bpmurray]

I just saw that you can now get National Flow supers. At €449+VAT (over €550), that strikes me as being rather expensive, but I still think they are a great piece of engineering and certainly a lot less sticky than extracting. Unfortunately, there's no way I could justify that outlay - I want way too many other toys first!

 

[Hivemaker.]

Credit to the Flow Hive Inventors who should try to exit from the business before the flow recedes

Wonder if that is what the original inventors of flow frames decided to do back in 1940.
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2223561.pdf

 

[Tremyfro]

Hmmm....not preaching...just sharing.
I agree that the initial advertising was a great lure to would be beekeepers. It is also true that many were sold to existing beekeepers.
However, good advertising or misleading advertising...not withstanding....the Flow frames work ....exactly as shown on the videos.
Although, if you are interested in beekeeping, there is lots of help from clubs/books/videos...I don't believe any one item for beekeeping has ever reached the public non- beekeepers in such a way. The Flow frames stimulated interest in beekeeping from people who had never thought about beekeeping before. I don't think that is a bad thing.
There are two things here....one....the Flow frames and their use in beekeeping...and two....the attraction of new beekeepers.
The Flow Team have gone far further than any other company selling beekeeping equipment. They have set up training, videos, forums, question and answer forums. So they have followed through to help new beekeepers.
It is also true that the Flow frames do make beekeeping easier. Only the harvesting part though ...not the general management of the colony.
In addition, the part of the world where these frames were developed have a different way of management to the UK....and that should be taken into account too.
In all....the frames are successful and do work...which was my reason for getting them. If other beekeepers have failed.....perhaps they should look at their beekeeping and get better advice on managing their colony...as it is clear that if the colony is healthy and if there is a nectar flow....the bees will store the honey in them. The mechanism works and the honey does flow out into a jar.
The People who made these frames and marketed them so successfully, deserve their reward. Don't we all wish we had been able to design them?
Having said all that. More conventional beekeeping using wax frames and traditional harvesting methods forms a big part of learning about bees. I'm glad I learnt about that too. I'm sure that all the new beekeepers are busy now increasing their knowledge of beekeeping....expanding the knowledge base.
After all, is that not a good thing? It is easy to jump on the bandwagon....poking fun....predicting disaster.
Supporting new beekeepers...whatever their choice of hive or harvesting technique ...shows a generosity of spirit...which luckily, is what we find in most clubs and forums. It will be interesting to see what happens with the Flow frames in the future ....how many seasons they are good for....how we cope using them when the SHB arrive.....although I'm sure the Ozzies will offer advice on that. Whether they really have a useful place in UK beekeeping with our nectar flows.
I don't regret spending my money on them.....it has been very entertaining using them and finding out about them.