Honey straight from the hive.. honey flow

[alldigging]

http://www.honeyflow.com/

Have just seen someone share a link for this on a FB group.


What sort of bees aren't interested by a bit pot of honey next to the hive?

 

[Chris B]

Timing would be everything. No problem if there's a good flow on, otherwise robbing carnage.

 

[Chrisfnvs]

Yes and wasps and hornets etc and i was wondering if it has a inbuilt refractometer so you can only get ripened honey in the jar, and does it do labels as well ? it must be a joke

 

[domino]

I assume the production version the piping wouldn't be exposed to the bees. it's a kickstarter so I'm not going to hold my breath . Good luck to them.

 

[Finman]

it must be a joke

So it seems.

One of the best jokes has been "bonsai kitten".

 

[alanf]

Australian sense of humour, eh?

 

[wessexmario]

my first impression is that the author isn't a very good beek.

opening the hive when it's cold, clunking around with inadequate equipment, overdoing the smoke, squashing bees, and he expects the bees to be gentle with him in return?

I can see it appealing to the more 'hands off' type of beek, but will that be any good for the bees?

"It was getting on towards evening and a bit of a grey day, not the best time for beekeeping!

So I put on the bee vale my grandma made me and pressed the gaffa tape back on the mesh that covered the holes. Then put on my glove, I couldn’t find the second one… I fired up the smoker and blew plenty of smoke into the hive. When I opened the lid my suspicions were confirmed. The bees wern't happy about being disturbed.... I pulled the sleeve over my glovless hand, blew some more smoke into the hive and pulled some nice frames of honey out.

The hive was packed with bees and it was near imposible to get the honey out without squashing lots of them. I really dont like squashing bees.The bees got more grumpy and started to sting me through my bee suit. They weren't happy..... I put the hive back together, squashing more bees as the lid went on and ended up running away across the field

 

[pargyle]

What's odd is that there is an endorsement from Michael Bush of Bush Farms who is a beekeeper with stacks of experience and whilst he is very much on the side of low interference beekeeping I cannot believe that he would endorse anything like this .. has to be a hoax or a scam (I note that they are going to be seeking crowd funding for bringing whatever it is into production).

I share all the reservations in the above posts....Mind you watching a young lady drizzling honey onto a pile of breakfast pancakes - sans bee suit, gloves or even a veil gave me a good laugh - my bees are very relaxed but i can't help feeling that me sharing (or stealing !) breakfast in quite such an exposed way might leave them just a little miffed !!

 

[Anduril]

How does it cope with the small hive beetle? I await the launch. The frames look different with a contraption underneath them. Possibly a channel for drainage. Would it work with OSR? It would certainly cause a robbing frenzy.

 

[Anduril]

Great for honey thieves of the human kind. Wait until you finish your inspections in an out apiary and strike, although it would be a longer process for them than stealing the supers.

 

[waverider]

Has anyone performed a patent search?

I would have expected a demonstration on how the hive works if its release is due in the coming months!

 

[waverider]

The Flow Hive Facebook page indicates 'Flow' as a trademark.

The Trademark for 'Flow' was registered in the US in 1999 for sportswear;

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmcase/Results/4/EU000292458

 

[Anduril]

There is a patent on the bee sauce site if it is for the same invention. Looks like the bees would have to do a lot of repair work, which would mean less honey. Uses pistons and artificial honeycomb. Opening and closing positions with a trough underneath. Shall wait and see, although it may not be for the commercial beekeeper as you would need one per hive.

 

[Anduril]

Just checked the patent it is from the father and son team

 

[Anduril]

Free US patent online looks messy

 

[Canary Honey]

Free US patent online looks messy

Figure 36, one of the clearer images looks like the apparatus will be collecting nectar as it will be drained as soon as it goes into the cells.
For this reason I am out. (and taking the stupidly large wadge of cash on my side table home with me)

 

[Anduril]

Figure 36, one of the clearer images looks like the apparatus will be collecting nectar as it will be drained as soon as it goes into the cells.
For this reason I am out. (and taking the stupidly large wadge of cash on my side table home with me)

Maybe OK for the 1 to 3 hive owner if it is cheaper than a small tangential extractor. Also depends on the flow rate coming out of the hive. Would the water content conform to trading standards, if not then OK for home consumption and a good talking point when you invite friends around.

 

[Anduril]

fig 36. To be fair to the design it is probably in the closed position then when opened you only extract capped honey if there are 2 plastic sheets together. Will the bees realise there is very little honey left behind the cappings. Looks interesting, would like to see the internal workings, probably because I like to see how things work.

 

[Canary Honey]

fig 36. To be fair to the design it is probably in the closed position then when opened you only extract capped honey if there are 2 plastic sheets together. Will the bees realise there is very little honey left behind the cappings. Looks interesting, would like to see the internal workings, probably because I like to see how things work.

I don't think the honey could simply dribble out from behind the cappings, there would be an air lock and some capillary action holding the liquid in position. Consider the force needed to spin out the honey in a traditional extractor.

 

[Anduril]

I don't think the honey could simply dribble out from behind the cappings, there would be an air lock and some capillary action holding the liquid in position. Consider the force needed to spin out the honey in a traditional extractor.

It states the use of warm or hot air inside to aid drainage, which means you would have to be near an electric supply.