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I've heard that the chinese "frow hi" is not very good - leaks bees and honey. The only second hand one on fleabay at the moment is in Italy and the asking price is about £850.

Having just done my first extraction using traditional "manual spinner" methods (borrowed the association's 4 frame tangential manual extractor), the Flow Hive is looking more attractive. I would not have believed how sticky everything in the emptied utility room became. I did two hours extracting and spent at least as long preparing and clearing up.

CVB
 
charlievictorbravo said:
I've heard that the chinese "frow hi" is not very good - leaks bees and honey. The only second hand one on fleabay at the moment is in Italy and the asking price is about £850.

Having just done my first extraction using traditional "manual spinner" methods (borrowed the association's 4 frame tangential manual extractor), the Flow Hive is looking more attractive. I would not have believed how sticky everything in the emptied utility room became. I did two hours extracting and spent at least as long preparing and clearing up.

CVB
Click to expand...

Does Cornwall have a version of Devon Association of Smallholders?

I gained a 9 frame Thornes plastic radial electric for £250 via DASH.

The downside is that this year with beggar all crop I'll lose most of the honey stuck to the sides.
 
charlievictorbravo said:
I've heard that the chinese "frow hi" is not very good - leaks bees and honey. The only second hand one on fleabay at the moment is in Italy and the asking price is about £850.

Having just done my first extraction using traditional "manual spinner" methods (borrowed the association's 4 frame tangential manual extractor), the Flow Hive is looking more attractive. I would not have believed how sticky everything in the emptied utility room became. I did two hours extracting and spent at least as long preparing and clearing up.

CVB
Click to expand...

Have no idea on how good or not they are but know if I sat behind one my hives with an open source of honey, the air (and me) would be thick with bees!

I feel the pain.
We gave up on a manual extractor a few years ago but still have nightmares about using one.
S
 
theeggman said:
Does Cornwall have a version of Devon Association of Smallholders?

I gained a 9 frame Thornes plastic radial electric for £250 via DASH.

The downside is that this year with beggar all crop I'll lose most of the honey stuck to the sides.
Click to expand...

I got myself a four frame tangential table top spinner from Thornes. Really useful if you have just one super. The cage comes right out and you can scrape most of the honey out
 
charlievictorbravo said:
I've heard that the chinese "frow hi" is not very good - leaks bees and honey. The only second hand one on fleabay at the moment is in Italy and the asking price is about £850.

Having just done my first extraction using traditional "manual spinner" methods (borrowed the association's 4 frame tangential manual extractor), the Flow Hive is looking more attractive. I would not have believed how sticky everything in the emptied utility room became. I did two hours extracting and spent at least as long preparing and clearing up.

CVB
Click to expand...

I have done 3 lot of extraction this year. Floor and all working surfaces covered in cardboard - minimal mess. Clear up ? remove cardboard
 
with a bit of thought and preparation there is very little mess - it pays to invest in a decent uncapping tray and a foodsafe box to hang the uncapped frames in awaiting the extractor - also, buy a couple of gravel trays from your garden centre - the supers just sit inside them so no drips on the floor (they make good emergency hive roofs during the silly season as well)
 
Erichalfbee said:
I got myself a four frame tangential table top spinner from Thornes. Really useful if you have just one super. The cage comes right out and you can scrape most of the honey out
Click to expand...

Just sold my 4 frame Thornes for a miserable 101 quid on fleabuy... bought two 9 frame radials ( electric)... suits my minor extraction efforts nicely!

Nos da
 
jenkinsbrynmair said:
apparently the genuine ones are made in the same factory in china as the 'fakes'
Click to expand...

I stand to be corrected but my understanding is that the Flow™Hives are made in either Brisbane or Oregon. All the Flow™Frames are made in Australia. If you recall, the original $70,000 they were seeking from the crowdfunding was for new tooling to mass-produce the frame parts and I'm pretty sure the factory was in Brizzie.

I've complained to Ebay about a lot of the ads for rip-off chinese flow hives but now the rip-off merchants got smart and barely mention flow hive. I object to the rip-off people stealing a design that took 10 years to develop by the two beekeeper inventors in New South Wales.

CVB
 
charlievictorbravo said:
I stand to be corrected but my understanding is that the Flow™Hives are made in either Brisbane or Oregon. All the Flow™Frames are made in Australia. If you recall, the original $70,000 they were seeking from the crowdfunding was for new tooling to mass-produce the frame parts and I'm pretty sure the factory was in Brizzie.
CVB
Click to expand...

I just recall a report on here - from Dexters shed IIRC that due to the massive demand they'd eventually outsourced to China and had issues due to them churning out lookalikees.
 
Glad I got an original....I hope you are right JMB....and that there will be lots of secondhand Flows to snaffle....you will just have to make sure they are authentic. Won't be long before I drain mine....then the truth will be known.
 
Hope it goes well. I do not have any flow hives, but it is not a very representative year. Here in east Anglian it has been very hot. I had to do an early extraction 3-4 weeks ago as my hives were overflowing. I would normally have expected that honey to have started to crystallise in the buckets by now, but it is still lovely and clear and runny. Water content around the 18 mark.
Bodes well for you I hope
Doing my last extraction this weekend, another couple of supers on most hives, again brimming.
 
Last edited:
drex said:
Hope it goes well. I do not have any flow hives, but it is not a very representative year. Here in east Anglian it has been very hot. I had to do an early extraction 3-4 weeks ago as my hives were overflowing. I would normally have expected that honey to have started to crystallise in the buckets by now, but it is still lovely and clear and runny. Water content around the 18 mark.
Bodes well for you I hope
Doing my last extraction this weekend, another couple of supers on most hives, again brimming.
Click to expand...

Lucky you...we have had a poor year so far. A couple of good days followed by any number of rubbish ones. ATM really hot today following 3 days of rain and high winds. I will be pleased with any crop. Even if the Flows are not capped they will have to be drained. I will check them beforehand and each will be drained into separate containers. Then I can check the water content.
 
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