New Beekeeper - Flow Hive

[Paras]

You seem to have made a success of them, well done
7? Phew!
I always wanted to try one.
Do you have to dismantle and clean the whole super for winter or do you just leave it the way the rest of us leave our ordinary supers?

Once the bees have clean the super I store the super away in a storage box till next season, the bees have done a good job of cleaning the super so far. I have open one frame this year to clean the excess propolis up and then put that together.

 

[Paras]

There must be dozens languishing in sheds around the country.. I know of at least 6 beginners down here that bought in to the idea that are no longer keeping bees, I wonder what they have done with the kit they bought on the basis of the dream.

There is one complete genuine super on ebay at the moment and more Chinese knock offs for just over £100 than you can shake a bee brush at ! I wonder how they get away with it ... I thought ebay were supposed to be toughening up on fake merchandise ...

Yes there are lots of fake and many have bought them and regretted to get them. I can not comment on the quality of the fake.

 

[Paras]

Yeah I don’t know if I can be bothered with all the extra faff as well as extracting in the normal way. I’m just curious and I’d probably be adding to the languishing ones.
Perhaps I should just pop down to paras and fill up a couple of jars

You are more than welcome Dani, most of my customers enjoy to see how the bees are flying around and not bothered with the harvesting, I get asked lots of question about the bees which is a good way to make the public more aware of them and not be afraid of them.

 

[Paras]

I think that is unbelievably enterprising.
Well done him

Thank you, I would have to give all credits to my lovely wife, she set the price. You have to create a demand of your product, what ever it may be. There is always someone out there who appreciate what you have to offer.

 

[Apple]

We were given one and gave away as more trouble than worth it.

Best advice to any beginner is that Flow hives are a bit of a specialist set up and few if any are successfully getting any honey at all from them... particularly if there is any oil seed rape growing in the bees foraging vicinity.
Possibly would work in a few urban environments inner city of London possibly... but then I would worry about the honey being contaminated from decades of leaded petrol fumes etc etc persisting in the soil... let alone all the 'ides used on the pavements!!

IMOHO of course!
Chons da

 

[Erichalfbee]

Best advice to any beginner is that Flow hives are a bit of a specialist set up and few if any are successfully getting any honey at all from them... particularly if there is any oil seed rape growing in the bees foraging vicinity.
IMOHO of course!
Chons da

Dave, what do you do with OSR?
Do you leave it in the supers to mix with your summer crop?
No you take it off and replace the supers to take summer honey.
So if you have a flow hive where there is OSR you do the same. Except your OSR super is a regular one and the summer one the Flow.

 

[Newbeeneil]

There must be dozens languishing in sheds around the country.. I know of at least 6 beginners down here that bought in to the idea that are no longer keeping bees, I wonder what they have done with the kit they bought on the basis of the dream.

One would think these would be turning up on auction sites etc but I've never seen them available. It might be quite fun to try one
I'll put that on my list after all the others I'm going to play with, I've got the long hive going well, next year its the OSB hive based on supers. Maybe the year after if I can pick one up for a decent price?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

One would think these would be turning up on auction sites etc but I've never seen them available. It might be quite fun to try one

Seen them on fleabay once or twice - and for sale at the Pembrokeshire BKA spring auction a few years ago

 

[Ian123]

Hi paras can you tell me how much a complete flow costs with the extra boxes you require. I notice you say you operate dbl brood? I also see you harvest more than a langstroth super holds so do you add extra or extract when full, obviously with a flow on and a full super is the honey ripened. I would also add on my traditional hives a dbl brood colony produces a substantial number of bees and normally more than could be held in a single super, some times even 5 or 6 additional supers. Do you find this increases swarming. I notice you also say a beekeeper needs the basics under their belt, as flows had really been targeted at new beeks from the start is this wise? Thks Ian

 

[pargyle]

Seen them on fleabay once or twice - and for sale at the Pembrokeshire BKA spring auction a few years ago

I think, where they were purchased by so many people who were new to beekeeping they are sitting in sheds - if they managed to put bees in them they either gave up after the first season or lost them in the first winter ... I reckon the kit is still sitting in place or in a shed.

 

[ericbeaumont]

as flows had really been targeted at new beeks from the start is this wise?

From the FH Wikipedia: Promotion as 'honey on tap': In the first advertisements for the Flow Hive, it was marketed as a way to remove honey "without disturbing the bees". Many experienced beekeepers took issue with this, as they said it promoted a lack of maintenance of hives... Cedar Anderson responded to the criticism, changing the way that the Flow Hive was marketed, and specifying that all that changes with the Flow Hive system is the process of harvesting of honey, and that the rest of the beekeeping process should remain the same.[11][12]

 

[Ian123]

Ooh I’ve just seen flow are now offering a national super it’s currently 30% off and a snip at £336.00 excluding vat per super I’m going to put half a dozen on my Xmas list

 

[Paras]

Hi paras can you tell me how much a complete flow costs with the extra boxes you require. I notice you say you operate dbl brood? I also see you harvest more than a langstroth super holds so do you add extra or extract when full, obviously with a flow on and a full super is the honey ripened. I would also add on my traditional hives a dbl brood colony produces a substantial number of bees and normally more than could be held in a single super, some times even 5 or 6 additional supers. Do you find this increases swarming. I notice you also say a beekeeper needs the basics under their belt, as flows had really been targeted at new beeks from the start is this wise? Thks Ian

Hi Ian,

My set-up is a 8 frame Langstroth box, therefore a double brood is good, however if you go for the 10 frame langstroth box, there are many suppliers in the UK you can brood box from. But if you do go for the 8 frame then we only have one supplier in the UK that has equipment for that.

Have a look at the EU website for FlowHive, when you ready to purchase let me know, I can get you a discount code.
https://eu.honeyflow.com/collections/flow-hives
Having double brood also allows the bees to store the honey with the lower water level, because the numbers do increase with single brood box and there are too many bees inside the box for them to effectively evaporate the excess water.

I also do vertical splits when I do swarm control.

I would recommend doing the course, you don't need to mention the type of hives you will keep the hives in. Some beekeepers use a top bar hive, some use warn hives, some use national and langstroth hive, the basic course should focus on keeping bees alive, swarm control, diseases and parts of the hives and how they are used.

I do teach beginners beekeeping, if you feel safer learning with someone who would not judge you on the type of hive you use and are willing to travel to me, you are more than welcome to come a 2 day intensive course with me, and if I have a nucleus colony you can purchase that at the end of the course.

My course is a very hands on experience, you would be opening up large colonies, by the end of the course you would know if beekeeping is for you or not.

You can purchase your FlowHive after that which means you don't waste your money if beekeeping is not for you.

 

[Paras]

I think, where they were purchased by so many people who were new to beekeeping they are sitting in sheds - if they managed to put bees in them they either gave up after the first season or lost them in the first winter ... I reckon the kit is still sitting in place or in a shed.

Yes I have seen those come up from time to time, they are now being snatched by the beekeepers who have successful used the FlowHive.

 

[Paras]

Ooh I’ve just seen flow are now offering a national super it’s currently 30% off and a snip at £336.00 excluding vat per super I’m going to put half a dozen on my Xmas list

Yes they do a FlowHive Super for National hive

 

[Apple]

Dave, what do you do with OSR?
Do you leave it in the supers to mix with your summer crop?
No you take it off and replace the supers to take summer honey.
So if you have a flow hive where there is OSR you do the same. Except your OSR super is a regular one and the summer one the Flow.

The"early season supers" would be the "summer flow" supers that have been spun off and stored wet, and put back onto the hive ready for the OSR crop.
( We do get a worthwhile crop here in the greatgreygreasytamarrivervalleyallsetaboutwithseconcovidiothomes........)

Once the yellow peril is safely seeded we take the filled supers off and put them through the Apimelter. separate the honey which is the basis for our "soft set " seeded honey and gives us some nice clean beeswax.
For the summer flow we put undrawn super frames into the brood+ 1/2 at the side of the brood nest to be started and once drawn with some honey move up above a qx to the center of the super.

Even using the above method we still seem to get some crystallised frames of honey that simply explode in the extractor...
I simply can not see any advantage other than the pure novelty of using the "Flow hive" system.... and how long would it take for a beefarmer with 300 colonies to service them and how may roof tops are there available in the City of London????
This way we can constantly cycle our frames so that our best honey is being put into clean wax.
All this it seems is too much faff for the majority of beekeepers
I get the feeling someone is pulling my leg ( the one I still have that is!!!)
Nadelik Lowen

 

[Apple]

Yes they do a FlowHive Super for National hive

I think I would rather have 14 x 12 frames!

 

[Erichalfbee]

I simply can not see any advantage other than the pure novelty of using the "Flow hive" system.... and how long would it take for a beefarmer with 300 colonies to service them and how may roof tops are there available in the City of London????

They aren't for bee farmers are they?

 

[ericbeaumont]

how long would it take for a beefarmer with 300 colonies to service them and how may roof tops are there available in the City of London????

A beefarmer with 300 will have enough kit to last a lifetime and wouldn't even look at the FH, but it has introduced new and younger people to beekeeping and despite the churn as some discover the hard work and give up, at least they've engaged with nature along the way.

The City is never going to produce honey unless habitat improves, but two miles outside I get good yields, and at Aldgate (less than a mile from the City) Khalil & Salma get honey from colonies on the roof of the East London Mosque. Mind you, they know what they're doing (unlike many urban beginners) and the bees fly East to the little parks and gardens.

 

[Apple]

A beefarmer with 300 will have enough kit to last a lifetime and wouldn't even look at the FH, but it has introduced new and younger people to beekeeping and despite the churn as some discover the hard work and give up, at least they've engaged with nature along the way.

The City is never going to produce honey unless habitat improves, but two miles outside I get good yields, and at Aldgate (less than a mile from the City) Khalil & Salma get honey from colonies on the roof of the East London Mosque. Mind you, they know what they're doing (unlike many urban beginners) and the bees fly East to the little parks and gardens.

Those little parks and gardens must be a Mecca for them!
Chons da