Flow Hives

[Ian123]

We discussed the growing of OSR in another thread recently, but this evening I've been out playing skittles and chatting with a few local farmers who told me that the price of OSR has gone up £70 (about 30%, I think) in the last week. If that holds I suspect we're suddenly going to see a lot more OSR being grown.

I appreciate there are benefits to beekeepers when there's a lot of OSR, but actually last year when we had none locally extraction was so much easier.

James

Wheat prices will be going up more in all likelihood! due to the Ukrainian situation.

 

[W0otz]

We discussed the growing of OSR in another thread recently, but this evening I've been out playing skittles and chatting with a few local farmers who told me that the price of OSR has gone up £70 (about 30%, I think) in the last week. If that holds I suspect we're suddenly going to see a lot more OSR being grown.

I appreciate there are benefits to beekeepers when there's a lot of OSR, but actually last year when we had none locally extraction was so much easier.

James

Ukraine/Russia produce 60% of the world's sunflower oil. Russian invasion of Ukraine has big implications for sunflower oil market so that'll be why OSR price has gone up.

 

[JamezF]

Ukraine/Russia produce 60% of the world's sunflower oil. Russian invasion of Ukraine has big implications for sunflower oil market so that'll be why OSR price has gone up.

I'm not sure there's much anyone in the UK can do anything about it this year then. Around here it would be flowering in a month to six weeks time.

James

 

[ldwgs]

Help please !
I am looking into purchasing a flow hive as part of our NT project. I have been trying to find out more about them, has anyone any experience in working with them. We currently have 5 NS Bee hives. ( if they all survive winter) Our project focus is to educate visitors to the importance of Bees, their habitat and ecology. By introducing a flow hive we would be exploring and presenting an alternative way of Bee keeping. Suggestions and input welcome

Flow hives do not in any way provide education about bees, only about getting honey. was given 1 tried out for 1 year, moved bees into National just use flow to show how bad it is for bees

 

[echidna]

I think a lot of people have unfounded criticisms of them. The process of beekeeping is exactly the same. The only difference is when it comes to extraction. I do have some experience and the issue was getting the bees to accept the plastic frames. Obviously it can be done, and people use plastic frames that aren't flow frames, but my bees didn't like them and I was worried they were going to swarm rather than use that space.
If the box of flow frames did get full, I think it would need quite a lot of strength to lift the box off to inspect the brood box because they are deep frames.

 

[Wilco]

I looked into it a while back and IIRC they did make a flow super with a National footprint so you can just put one onto a National hive and try it out if you're desperate but they're a lot of money for what they are.

 

[Moira]

We are a beekeeping assoc. and last year brought a flow hive super for our teaching apiary. First, we waited until osr had finished flowering and then put the flow super on top of a very strong colony in the brood box. We also spread old wax over the plastic frames and then put a super on top of the flow super with drawn frames. This is because the national roof will not fit on top of the flow super so you need an eke or a super as well. we had mixed results. The bees were initially reluctant to use the plastic but did put down about 2-3 frames of honey and pollen. We hoped to extract on our honey show day to show the visiting public but it was a very cold day so this was done later and we struggled to get it warm enough to flow. The flow hive itself provides a good opportunity to talk to new beekeepers and the public about alternatives and the pros and cons of different methods etc. we will try again this year but the temperatures in the late summer might be problematic again.

 

[pargyle]

So ... The experiences of the majority of those who have tried flow hives in the UK appear not to have really met the original claims of Marketing information when the Flow Hive funding campaign was launched.

I would think, in a climate such as Australia (where the flow hive was invented), where there is a good chance of consistently warm weather, the honey can be extracted fairly easily from the flow frames. Plus, the major nectar flows in Australia come from the large variety of Eucalyptus trees and they, on the whole, produce honey that is fairly slow to crystallise.

I think it's something in the UK that would need a fair bit of knowledge of actual beekeeping and certainly a very close eye on what the bees are foraging on ... extraction from the frames would need to be carefully managed according to what is being stored by the bees and timed to coincide with warm weather. My worry was always that it would attract people who thought they could just stick one of these hives in the garden and have 'honey on tap' and I rather suspect there are a large number of disappointed would-be beekeepers. I hope some of these turned into 'real' beekeepers ...I wonder if existing beekeepers who bought into the idea still have flow frames in use or whether they have been consigned to the back of the bee shed (in embarrasment or desperation ? - We've all got a few horrors tucked away in our chamber of secrets !).

From my point of view the downsides of using flow frames in the UK far outweigh the few advantages .. I'm always keen to try new ideas and new methods (and revisit some old ones) but I really can't see any major benefit that would persuade me to bother with them. I quite like gadgets and I admire the clever engineering and the train of thought that got the inventors to actually market the Flow Hive ...

They are still selling them, 7 years now ... but I do worry that their marketing is directed at people who may not really know much about beekeeping ...

https://uk.honeyflow.com/
I wonder if the beekeepers shown in the UK are still as enthusiastic ? One has a You Tube channel where the last comment was in 2018 .... doesn't bode well does it ?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I wonder if existing beekeepers who bought into the idea still have flow frames in use or whether they have been consigned to the back of the bee shed

I know of one very experienced beekeeper in Pembrokeshire (a GP as it happens) who tried it for a few seasons then dumped it in the local bee auction with no reserve.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes Philip I think you’re spot on. I’ve talked to a lot of Flow hive keepers in Australia and consistent warm weather and nectar flow seems key. Something we don’t have here in the U.K. I wonder how @Paras manages his hives to achieve any amount of honey worth selling?

 

[pargyle]

I know of one very experienced beekeeper in Pembrokeshire (a GP as it happens) who tried it for a few seasons then dumped it in the local bee auction with no reserve.

There will always be nutters who pick up no reserve 'bargains' at bee auctions and then get them home and wonder what possessed them to bid ! (I know - I'm one of them !!!). My best ever purchase at a bee auction was a very old Black and Decker Workmate for a fiver (I could not believe my luck !!) but a few other purchases have left me less than euphoric when I got home ....

 

[Newbeeneil]

There will always be nutters who pick up no reserve 'bargains' at bee auctions and then get them home and wonder what possessed them to bid ! (I know - I'm one of them !!!). My best ever purchase at a bee auction was a very old Black and Decker Workmate for a fiver (I could not believe my luck !!) but a few other purchases have left me less than euphoric when I got home ....

I've had a few of those "bargins" and they normally find their way back to the auction the next year! I've even made a profit on a few!

 

[Poly Hive]

Every class or course I am involved with has a starry eyed person who is convinced the contraption is the best thing ever, it's so obviously brilliant!

Then on session two I hear the gentle hiss of deflation.....

PH

 

[Gilberdyke John]

There will always be nutters who pick up no reserve 'bargains' at bee auctions and then get them home and wonder what possessed them to bid ! (I know - I'm one of them !!!). My best ever purchase at a bee auction was a very old Black and Decker Workmate for a fiver (I could not believe my luck !!) but a few other purchases have left me less than euphoric when I got home ....

I try to set myself a maximum bid
and stick to it. I picked up an excellent microscope a few years ago for only a few quid as no one else placed a bid. I also like boxes of miscellaneous bits which usually sell for peanuts. Sometimes they contain an odd item of great "handy to have" value or an odd item which can be sold on singly at a profit.
Auctions can be heartbreaking to vendors of course when something sells for far less than they really really hoped for.

 

[Buzby]

I very recently bought a Langstroth from a Gent who had tried Flow frames and he gave them to me when I said I wanted to show beginners in order to warn them off (with appropriate explanations).

 

[philipm]

I,ve made a few things over the years for our auction ,they quite often turn up again and are resold.

 

[Boston Bees]

I,ve made a few things over the years for our auction ,they quite often turn up again and are resold.

Not sure that's a compliment though ....

 

[ericbeaumont]

wonder how @Paras manages his hives to achieve any amount of honey worth selling?

Well, Paras does it for pleasure so I guess a return is not that essential, but last I heard he sold via social media, inviting buyers to fill the jar from the tap. As I recall, he was getting something like £16/lb and always sells out locally; he's also a Flow Hive UK Ambassador; Instagram of hives here.

 

[Buzzlodge]

. By introducing a flow hive we would be exploring and presenting an alternative way of Bee keeping.

Flow hives are not an alternative way of beekeeping. They are an alternative way of extracting honey.

But therin lies the problem with them, or rather with some flow hive owners. Some seem to have got the idea that flow hive is maintenance free and inspection free beekeeping. I look at the Flow Forum from time to time and its not unusual to see posts from people who have never properly inspected their brood box.

The hives themselves are very expensive. Against that you don't need an extractor, but more than two hives and an extractor is more cost effective.

They are most commonly used in Australia where the temperatures are higher than here so the honey does flow better.

Its a nifty invention as an in-situ extractor but unfortunately it was marketed as a way of beekeeping where you didn't disturb the bees and this has stuck with it.

 

[Ian123]

They are most commonly used in Australia

Stop slandering Australians………whilst admittedly many are annoying, most Aussie beeks I have met aren’t silly enough to buy flow hives