for the doubting thomas's

[Erichalfbee]

If honey was running out of a hive like that at the end of a flow around here, that colony would likely be a dead one.

Indeed

I hope i have this right but is Erica being sarcastic.. lol

No sarcasm
Here is the guy's post

Hey all. Today I tapped my first two frames. I had 4 full and two almost full from a new swarm I caught in early December and placed into a full Flowhive box. It's been so exciting watching them work over the past three months, what extraordinary creatures.
I had a couple of minor (messy) issues and I'm wondering if anyone can enlighten me on what I did wrong. There are a couple of questions:
Firstly, I initially put in the flow tubes, set my jars and turned the key. Honey started to flow almost immediately into the jars which was very exciting. However about ten minutes later I noticed honey leaking from under the brood box out of the bottom plastic board and then it started leaking near the front of the hive. One thing I know I did wrong was I didn't place the plastic bottom board into the high position

 

[Millet]

Now if you had posted that to start with i would have not mentioned sarcasm, he seems to have issues either way and god Help any UK beekeeper who tries them flow hives.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Indeed



No sarcasm
Here is the guy's post

Hey all. Today I tapped my first two frames. I had 4 full and two almost full from a new swarm I caught in early December and placed into a full Flowhive box. It's been so exciting watching them work over the past three months, what extraordinary creatures.
I had a couple of minor (messy) issues and I'm wondering if anyone can enlighten me on what I did wrong. There are a couple of questions:
Firstly, I initially put in the flow tubes, set my jars and turned the key. Honey started to flow almost immediately into the jars which was very exciting. However about ten minutes later I noticed honey leaking from under the brood box out of the bottom plastic board and then it started leaking near the front of the hive. One thing I know I did wrong was I didn't place the plastic bottom board into the high position

I think the guy who posted that photo must live in Australia where temperatures at this time of year are pretty high. He opened the whole length of the Flow-frame and the honey was not very viscous and ran out of the frame very quickly, overspilling the collection channel into the brood box. He's been advised to use the opening key on only a small section of frame when the honey's runny, i.e. open the front quarter, then the front half, etc.

They're all on a steep learning curve!

CVB

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Dexter's Shed, who started this thread has had a change of circumstances and is selling his Flow™Hive kit. Anybody interested in buying a set-up should contact Steven - see https://www.facebook.com/groups/1621214464763117/

CVB

 

[BeeJayBee]

That's really sad.

I wish him well, as I'm sure everybody else on here does.

 

[pargyle]

That's really sad.

I wish him well, as I'm sure everybody else on here does.

Yes ... explains his absence from all the beekeeping fora for some time ... hope he gets sorted out - he's got hives in some woodland that he bought as well.

 

[Erichalfbee]

A split like that just turns your life upside, poor man.
I hope everything turns out OK in the end

 

[Hivemaker.]

he's got hives in some woodland that he bought as well.

Perhaps that is also where he lives now.

 

[Tremyfro]

He has moved to much smaller accommodation and doesn't have very much space for storing beekeeping equipment...he has had to sell his garden colonies. He has been going through a bad time. We wish him good fortune and a return to beekeeping soon.

 

[Hachi]

Not on social media, whats happened to the poor chap?

 

[Tremyfro]

Marriage breakdown...very sad. Anyone who has been through it knows how awful the fallout is.

 

[Hachi]

Yup sure do

 

[denise washington]

its even harder when you loose some one and cant get them back

 

[oliver90owner]

Leaving aside the poster's personal situation, has anyone successfully used their contraptions to fill any jars yet? Wondering if the flowhive was his downfall?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Wondering if the flowhive was his downfall?

Shhhhhhh!
Never mind Flows, If I"m not careful beekeeping might be mine

 

[Tremyfro]

I haven't heard of any beekeepers harvesting from the flow yet. It's probably a bit early. I should think first time users will avoid any honey from OSR....or be very careful to take hydrometer readings....just to avoid problems this year.
Certainly, mine are still in the box as my bees are only just beginning to bring in some nectar. There have been lots of reports and videos of beekeepers in OZ and in the warmer states of USA.

 

[Worldsend]

At a country show on our beekeeping stand we were approached by a chap who is making plans to be a bee farmer as a change of career and liked the look of the flow hive because of all the good publicity- he said he has done his research and felt that was the way forward

- he has never kept bees before!!

I'm afraid we laughed and suggested joining his local group before he made any purchases

 

[psafloyd]

having read quite a few post's from members who thought that the flow hive campaign was a big con, and that pledging money would see no returns, I had a nice surprise today, a package arrived that I had not ordered, 3 x free of charge flow frames, as a way of thanks for helping moderate the flow forum, retail price of these is £170 plus postage, so a nice little treat

Deleted as I hadn't realised the post as about Dexter's change in circumstances for which he has my sympathy.

Can't see a way to delete this so, amended.

 

[Karol]

I haven't heard of any beekeepers harvesting from the flow yet. It's probably a bit early. I should think first time users will avoid any honey from OSR....or be very careful to take hydrometer readings....just to avoid problems this year.
Certainly, mine are still in the box as my bees are only just beginning to bring in some nectar. There have been lots of reports and videos of beekeepers in OZ and in the warmer states of USA.

Can't see how the flowhive will ever work without leaking and risking serious flooding of the hive with honey and that's all because you can't cheat the laws of physics. When the plastic cells are split to form channels this automatically tears any capping and simultaneously creates a hydrostatic column above all of the cells at the base of the frame. Honey will therefore always pour out of the front of the lower cells and flood the hive. If the honey is low viscosity because of either water content or elevated temperatures then the flooding might reach such proportions that it will force the bees out of the hive.

 

[Erichalfbee]

And yet there are videos out there of people harvesting from them quite successfully. Some report honey leaking out. The inspection cortex sheet has two positions under the omf. The highest one has it in contact with the mesh so that any escaped honey doesn't flow out of the hive and can be accessed by the bees to lick up. In my apiary that would set up a robbing frenzy. The Beeks on OZ seem remarkably unconcerned about the possibility