A Welsh Flow Hive Harvest

[charlievictorbravo]

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

The 1939 US patent by Garrida addressed the same problem but used a different solution - a movable central rib that was intended to open the lower end of the cells, thus draining them of honey.

The patent appears to indicate that the combs are made of metal so maybe that's why it never caught on - that and the fact that it didn't work. The bees, if you could persuade them to use the metal combs, only had to wax over the lower end of the cell and it would not drain whereas the Flow Hive solution is virtually impossible for wax to block the emptying of the cells. Whether OSR or Ivy honey would crystallise sufficiently in a warm hive to prevent the mechanism working remains to be seen. I have not seen reports of this problem.

CVB

 

[Hivemaker.]

Whether OSR or Ivy honey would crystallise sufficiently in a warm hive to prevent the mechanism working remains to be seen.

Well it would granulate for sure, but I also think it would be interesting for someone to get some frames full of granulated OSR and see if the mechanism works and how well it flows from the frames.

I would also like to see how efficient, how much faster (compared to the methods used now) they would be in a commercial setting, several hundred hives in this country, and especially how well/efficiently heather honey would flow from them.

 

[Michael Palmer]

I would also like to see how efficient, how much faster (compared to the methods used now) they would be in a commercial setting, several hundred hives in this country, and especially how well/efficiently heather honey would flow from them.

And the cost! At what? $600 for each super with flow frames? So you haven't a need for an extractor!

 

[Hivemaker.]

And the cost! At what? $600 for each super with flow frames? So you haven't a need for an extractor!

I'm going to wait and see how well you get on with them first Mike.

 

[Fritillary]

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.

Yes, well said. And people sharing online their experiences and what they've learned, in beekeeping, and with all sorts of other topics too, shows same generosity of spirit. - So many times I've found and appreciated really useful advice!

 

[Tremyfro]

Well it would granulate for sure, but I also think it would be interesting for someone to get some frames full of granulated OSR and see if the mechanism works and how well it flows from the frames.

I would also like to see how efficient, how much faster (compared to the methods used now) they would be in a commercial setting, several hundred hives in this country, and especially how well/efficiently heather honey would flow from them.

I think you will find that trying to get granulated honey out of a flow frame is a little easier than trying to get it out of wax comb. The frame comes apart...really easily so each cell of granulated honey will fall out....a honeycomb shape of granulated honey...ha ha. Of course, the aim is harvest the honey from any type of comb before it granulates. So providing timely harvesting OSR shouldn't be a problem. As the frames are removed after the final harvest....no worries about ivy either.....which most of us leave for the bees...in wax comb...and hopefully confined to the broodbox. I'm not sure about the thixotropic honeys. They have this type of honey in OZ and I know they were using the frames in those areas too. I have been told that by opening and closing the frames repeatedly ...it disturbs the honey making it more liquid...but I have not heard back about this. As I understand it...Heather honey is crush and strain with some fairly heavy duty equipment...so using your Flow frames for Heather honey may not be the best way of using them. I think the intention is to use them for regular honey...and there is nothing wrong with that.
Commercially...well certainly prohibitively expensive to set up and I can't see anyone doing that...lol
Personally, I think they are mainly for the hobby beekeeper. It adds an interesting dimension for the hobbyist....again...there is nothing wrong with that.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

And the cost! At what? $600 for each super with flow frames? So you haven't a need for an extractor!

Yes, the price is high - that's what happens when your minimum wages gets out of control!

The advantage of the Flow Hive is not just that you don't need an extractor but that the honey does not get flung through the air in a spinner, thus losing some of the volatile aromatics. The same honey would surely taste and smell better for this change of harvesting method.

CVB

 

[Michael Palmer]

I'm going to wait and see how well you get on with them first Mike.

You'll be the first to know.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Yes, the price is high - that's what happens when your minimum wages gets out of control!
CVB

Never mind, once the tories get hold of worker's rights after brexit we'll be right back to victorian values - soup kitchens, TB and rickets all round - and no NHS.

As for all this not losing any of it's volatile aromatics - what a load of absolute tosh!!

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Never mind, once the tories get hold of worker's rights after brexit we'll be right back to victorian values - soup kitchens, TB and rickets all round - and no NHS.

As for all this not losing any of it's volatile aromatics - what a load of absolute tosh!!

Don't worry about workers' rights, JMB, Jeremy Corbyn will protect the workers when he wins the next election, just like Bob Hawke and Paul Keating did in Australia. Now the Aussies don't have a car industry and their steel industry is wobbling. The law of unintended consequences - one person's pay increase is another person's price increase and when the price for a product is no longer competitive, market forces take over.

As for the volatile aromatics, we'll agree to disagree on that shall we? All I know is the rear of my house has a lovely aroma when I'm extracting honey and that aroma should be locked into the honey , not floating around in the air.

CVB

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Don't worry about workers' rights, JMB, Jeremy Corbyn will protect the workers when he wins the next election, just like Bob Hawke and Paul Keating did in Australia. Now the Aussies don't have a car industry and their steel industry is wobbling. The law of unintended consequences - one person's pay increase is another person's price increase and when the price for a product is no longer competitive, market forces take over.

CVB

Hand on heart do you really expect Corbyn's school debating society politics to work?
Red Robbo vs British Leyland took our car industry to the wall.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

And do you honestly believe that the steel industry is safe in the hands of the tories?

 

[Hivemaker.]

And do you honestly believe that the steel industry is safe in the hands of the tories?

....or the EU.

The view from Brussels is that there is little sense in propping up steel plants that are losing money when the world is awash with unwanted steel.

The crisis in British steel has been 40 years in the making.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/mar/29/crisis-british-steel-tata-40-years-making

 

[Gilberdyke John]

And do you honestly believe that the steel industry is safe in the hands of the tories?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmYuQy76IuQ

 

[For want of a better word]

Never mind, once the tories get hold of worker's rights after brexit we'll be right back to victorian values - soup kitchens, TB and rickets all round - and no NHS.

As for all this not losing any of it's volatile aromatics - what a load of absolute tosh!!

As with BMW / Audi / Mercedes and Porche cars... F frames.. are the things that the New rich overpaid middle class buy to impress others!

I suppose the must be some snobbery values in beekeeping too.....

My pension has been slashed .. so the planned trip to NZ has to be put on hold!

Yeghes da

 

[Swarm]

The smell in the extracting room is coming from the supers and frames.

 

[For want of a better word]

The smell in the extracting room is coming from the supers and frames.

I prefer the term aroma!

I can only concur... the aroma from the empty supers {or dandies as they should be called} in my box store is incredible... especially on a warm May day when filling with waxed frames ready for the next Cornish Black bee bumper harvest!

Yeghes da

 

[Tremyfro]

Politics now....lol.....
We have discussed the honey from the Flow frames before.....I think it does definitely have something extra....you won't know until you try it....you can't tell me I am wrong because you don't know. You can argue that the aroma comes from the wax and frames...but it's not just the aroma...it's a taste too. Perhaps it is because the honey is not aerated or mixed with the wax during the extraction process of crush and strain. Perhaps because each little cell of honey goes straight into the jar and that traps more of the volatiles...I don't know....perhaps my bees collected some nectar which was a bit special. There is no point in arguing...you don't know...and that's that. Next year ...if we are lucky....we might have more honey coming from the Flow frames.....I will invite you to a tasting. The closest I can describe it ...is tasting honey at the hive...when you have a bit of broken honeycomb....honey from the jar after extraction is never quite the same.

 

[pargyle]

We have discussed the honey from the Flow frames before.....I think it does definitely have something extra.....honey from the jar after extraction is never quite the same.

I definitely think you have done enough now for them to send you a complete flow hive - let alone a few frames !!!

 

[Tremyfro]

I definitely think you have done enough now for them to send you a complete flow hive - let alone a few frames !!!

Lol...I wish