Thank you. I'm not willing, or able, to pay what Flow wants for their products and thought about the Chinese version. Being unsure if they were any good, your video was pure gold. I'll add one to one of my hives and give it a go. Again, thank you!
I am in no shape or form a beekeepers or an enthusiast but the magic of TH-cam drove me to your video because I was remotely interested in the Flow Hive. I commend you for all these very clearly laid out argument and presentation about the Chinese knock-off, the feeding systems pros/cons. Having absolutely zero knowledge of beekeeping I found myself sometimes lost about the technical terms but you made your point across nevertheless. Thanks for your knowledgeable insight and your oratory skills! Cheers from a French viewer.
The point of draining each frame separately is because you get different types of honey from different flowers but you obviously like mixing all your honey together so you do you. The idea of the tube is good but I would still personally do each frame separately.
@@JahisLovePsalms Honey is nektar, not pollen. Either way, flowers bloom and produce nectar at different times in the year. Because of that you can get different tasting honey depending on the season. It does matter.
For years i've been watching beekeeping videos for tips and tricks, and this is one of the better ones. You have a clever mind and are well spoken, thank you.
OUTSTANDING Video. Only question I have is Why not do your strainer (pet screen) and distribution bucket all at same time? Why not have the one bucket doing all? Again ,awesome video
I am new to bees.. but I have been watching beehive videos like a madman. this has been the only info that seems worth watching from all the videos out there
All that piping will get sticky and waste honey. And if you combine all the frames in one bucket, you combine all the flavors of honey. You can tell by the colors in the frames. You should drain each frame of honey into different jars
THIS GUY IS A GENEROUS GENIUS!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Haven't bought one yet but plans to now with your video. Absolutely love it. God Bless You And Your Family Sir. 🙌 🤗
Best flow hive video I have seen. I am planning on buying one of the Chinese hives to use as a template and then making my own from cedar I have harvested and milled.
I'm glad the bees like the Chinese frames. I'm not sure I would trust Chinese plastic to be non-toxic though. They don't have much in the way of regulation over there to ensure food handling products are fit for use, in my opinion. Personally, I'd not go near the Chinese copy for this reason. The last thing you need is poisons in your honey.... Flow are incredibly diligent to make sure that the plastics they use are food safe.
Thanks for your you tube I had been using the flow hive for a few years. I am looking to build a AZ hive with the flow hive frames I this it will address some of the problems you talked about.
McGregor lindo cabasug did you ever get one? If so how is it going? Trying to work out if I should get the Air Flow (Chinese model( or not get into bee keeping, as you said the Flowhive is just to expensive to consider.
I don’t think this is right. You can enjoy your peace of mind until someone stole your idea/invention and make an easy profits from it. This is how we are weakening our country. No one cares the authenticity of invention.
@@dvdgalutube I agree and it’s a shame. There’s copyrights laws and etc to protect inventors, but China bypass them all. I feel so sorry for the original inventors in so many ways😢. What’s the point in making something when it gets stolen and you can’t fight for your ideas
I was all set to go with Flow when I first got my first nuc. I decided to try the Chinese instead and I'm pleased that I did - for the price, they seem very comparable. I have 3 hives now and purchased 3 more Chinese versions for the 2026 season.
Amazing video, You cleared so many questions in a very understandable and easy way. Helping people a LOT!! thanks for taking your time to do this and sharing your knowledge
Absolute best video I've seen on the subject myself but I've only started looking into this and getting this bee Buzz 4 days ago. I have cancer and can't work so I've had a lot of time to look into beekeeping and have literally watched close to a hundred videos probably. So obviously I'm brand-new and haven't bought anything yet but this is definitely what I'm going to do. Your video and your advice is unmatched. One thing that I would do when I extract into the bucket, I would maybe try to put a filter there and make it go into a bucket that you can make your jars from.. that way you eliminate that step. I don't know if you already thought of that or somebody mentioned it but like I said I'm brand new to all of this and I really have this sudden obsession with it that will go great with my organic garden that I'm planting this year. I need a mentor
Thanks! I'm glad this info helps. Yes, you do need a local mentor. However, you might hive trouble finding a mentor that will support your desire to use flow supers. If you find one you like and they don't know about (or like) this new approach to getting honey, just use them to help your get your bees going. I recommend keeping bees in hives that almost everyone uses (double deeps with a solid bottom board), but use flow supers to get your honey. After you drain the flow super, take it off and store it until next year's honey flow.
If you start a garden, you might want to know about wicking beds. Since I put in this wicking bed design, we have had so much produce that we bought two more freezers! th-cam.com/video/3DeEG1yzAqk/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=psyched1231
Please provide more details of how you made the filter device. You said something about cutting the bottom off a bucket but with the camera so close I couldn't see how that is or make sense of it. Thanks for the great and helpful video.
Australia gets their flo frames from china anyway, that’s why they are so hi , you can buy an entire flo hive system from china for as low as $254 , i bought one for $254 and it had bottom board, brood box , flo super and frames , screen top , Queen excluder, the keys , the tubes , extra parts entrance with swing gates , everything you need basically for a functional colony , im a woodworker so I fixed all the minor issues and it’s a nice hive , I have 4 actually 😝
Not correct. Flow frames are definitely made in Australia, just down the road from me here in Brisbane. In fact, my son in law is the supervisor in the plastic injection facility. Chinese only make their own knockoffs.
@@NightWolf-vv5me i’m going to sell 4 new flo hive frames, i have 28 total never used , i will sell all 28 for 1k , they are deeps and i forgot if it was 5or 7 that fit in a 10 deep
I have some concerns about the plastic that these Chinese flow hives are made out of, do we know that they're food safe and aren't leeching some toxin into the honey?
Thank you so much for this video. I bought 2 Chinese flow hives, painted the keepers orange and am using the mason jar feeding method. So far things are going great. Got 2 nucs in May this year. In just a month needed to add a medium hive box and yesterday put on the flow hive. Q? Should I continue to feed 1:1 syrup with the flow hive on ? How do I know when to stop feeding syrup?
Congrats! You're on the right track to success. Don't put on the flow until you're finished feeding and the honey flow has begun. Then, take off the syrup. You don't want them to store sugar syrup in the flow. When the honey flow starts, they'll stop taking syrup. Also when the flow starts, you'll see a whirlwind of activity as bees by the thousands are bringing in nectar. That's the time to put on the flow. Are you using all mediums? I like to keep two deeps or 3 mediums for the bees. That gives them plenty of brood room and plenty of honey storage for their survival through winter. Everything above those boxes is mine and that means a flow super.
Have first auto flow package. Has solid wood bottom board. Is the access strip enough ventilation in hot Texas summer or should I cut out bottom board for a ventilation screen? Deeply appreciate you.
Don't cut out the bottom board. Most that have tried ventilated bottom boards have gone back to solid - too many issues. I am in this Texas heat, too, and use screened inner covers on my bees to keep them cooler. When the flow starts, I put screened inner covers over the Flow supers to help the bees get the moisture out and cure the nectar. They have to evaporate about 6 lbs of water for every 1 pound of honey. I, also, staple a sheet of Reflectix on my lids to keep the sun reflected. Reflectix on the lid drops the hive temp about 10 degrees.
I have bought Chinese flow frames off Ebay on several occasions and have never found any difference in them. I think they are probably all made by the same manufacturer.
Dear psyched I have two Chinese flow hives in the UK. I am looking at you video with the greatest of interest. I like you find these £170 complete from Amazon satisfactory quality. I put the plastic 7 frame super on a month ago but I'm anxious that they seem to be taking a long time to draw/ seal the frames of the flow plastic units. There are plenty of bees working in it. I put a bit of wax on the lower frames to get them to go into the plastic! I am concerned and don't know what to do re should I feed 1to one syrup to help the bees draw the frames with wax more quickly? I'd be very grateful of your advice. I have no varroa now but did have. In a month the 50 a day drop is none now. I feel the colony is proliferating now. I see you have a feeder access hole on your Flow supers but I'm not clear if you feed your bees until they have got the frames ready foe honey..... As a new beekeeper I thought it was a no no to feed once the honey supers are on? I have made none drown top feeders that can be used with syrup or fondant, I luckily bought second hand Marks & Spencer plastic cake tins 19" dia. They have parallel vertical sides. If required the lid can be vented. The none dron idea has been achieved by .5mm plastic discs that fit right to the sides inside the tins but the edges have been cut with pinking shears that leave a small gap all round the outer perimiter. The same cutting where the thin sheet meets the tube in the centre hole. the tube fitted /stuck into the base /centre of the bottom of the tin rises up but leaves 1/2" at top for the bees to access the feeder. I sanded the surface of the tube which is 2" diameter. I see the commercial folks have only just designed a none drown top feeder! I hope you can put me right and cure my question what to do for the best. I will be getting an additional colony Saturday so the second flow hive will be on it's way to production soon but no honey from that one this year!
To get your bees to start using the flow frames, it is very important to very generously paint the frames with beeswax. I use a foam trim roller, dip it in melted wax and generously roll plenty of wax on the cells. Once they have used the frames to store honey, they will jump to them from then on. No. Never feed bees during the honey flow. That would contaminate the honey. I only feed during the time leading up to the flow to help them build their numbers.
@@psyched1231 Thank you so much for the quick reply. I painted a bit of beeswax on the lower cells and the bees are working them well. I suppose a bigger colony = quicker honey production, quicker everything really? We'll have to be very patient.
Very good video. But why don't you just place the filter between the lid with the tubes and the collecting bucket? I think it would fit perfectly, and the honey would be filtered and collected in just one step.
The honey wouldn't be able to go through the filter fast enough and it would overflow out the lid tube holes. The amount of honey from a full flow super is around 4 1/2 gallons.
In my area, only one wildflower dominates - Indian Blanket (Gaillardia) - Fabulous Honey! When it blooms, that's the only flower that the bees want to work in any volume. So, here, there's no mixing.
Great question - I put the tubes groups in my swimming pool and let the honey coating in them dissolve. Works great! If I didn't have a pool, I'd probably use the bath tub.
I forgot to thank you for this video , it’s actually better than flowhives explanation on harvesting, better technical and practical techniques lol kudos!!
Have you found a source for purchasing the caps? I have lost one, will be following your advice with the rest of them this afternoon. For the life of me I can't find one of them. Great video by the way. They should give you spare plugs or at least sell them separately.
Hi sir, great video. Please could you make more comprehensive videos of your practices as I am new to bee keeping and have bought an Aussie flow hive because I believed it will keep bee deaths to a minimum. You sir certainly look like you know what your talking about and I would like to learn more. Could you possibly make a step by step video of your hive construction and other bits of good advice please if you haven’t already. Thank you. God bless you.
Thank you and congratulations on buying Flow hive. The flow system is very much easier on the bees and, of course, the beekeeper than the old standard robbing and extracting. I have made a couple of other bee videos that you might enjoy. I think you can click on my "psyched1231" above and find them. Of course, if you subscribe, you'll get notified if I make more. Good luck with this wonderful new endeavor!
You gave a great tutorial on the auto and flow hives. If you used cellphone have a young person or store where you purchased it to show how to use selfies. That way you can see what you are recording. We were thinking of being bee keepers, however, like you said too messy but now I want to do it.
When do you put on the flow frames? In the spring? You said in the video around 20:19 that you’re going to want to take off the flow frames cause you’re going to want to feed in the spring. Can you clarify when to put on the flow frames, when to harvest, and when to take off the flow frames?
You put on the flow supers when the honey flow starts in your area. After the honey flow is over and the bees have had time to cure and cap all their honey, you will drain the frames into the buckets as discussed in the video. After you take the honey and the bees have had time to clean up the frames, you'll remove the flow supers and store them until the next spring honey flow. Good luck!!
Hola amigo desde España saludos ..una pregunta..¿cómo se llama la empresa q distribuye estas colmenas chinas? ..¿nombre del fabricante? me interesa..gracias .
I love your sieve idea. In fact, I love all your ideas :) Perhaps we could incorporate one structure in the extraction process so that sieving is done at the time of extraction
I check the same way. Just pull a couple of the flow frames. However, I usually wait until late July to take the honey and it's been so long since the spring by then, that all of it is ready to drain.
The latest Chinese Flo Hive (Just bought one and put it together) has the key and honey gathering on the opposite side of the entrance now. It also came with a 7 frame all Cedar Super with a nicely peaked roof and a brood box. I just hope the low frames work as they look really cheap. But I have also never seen an Australian Flow Hive so I don't know. I guess we'll see
I'm sorry that on my video I didn't make it clear that the doors to the flow frames was on the back of the hive. I have 5 Flow sets from Australia and seven of the Chinese. The frames seem identical as far as quality. I have used both for years now and all are holding up well. My strong recommendation is to add another deep brood box before you add the flow super. I keep my bees in two deep brood boxes and just add my flow super for the honey flow. I take it off and store it after I drain the honey. Those two brood boxes are theirs and I never touch them. Everything above those two are mine and that's where the flow super comes in.
Hello and thanks for the video. Are the tubes a food grade standard? I ask because I went to Home Depot and of all the tubing they had, none were listed as food safe.
No. The frames are designed to use with a standard Langstroth box. Using the standard Langstroth set up will allow you to add the flow super for the flow and then remove it until next season when you have drained the honey.
@@psyched1231 why do you have to remove flow frames over winter? does the plastic freeze? do you store flow frames inside house during winter? im from northern europe btw i was worried about that.
@@beeqool No. The frames don't freeze. You remove the flow super after draining because it is no longer needed on the hive and would just be more area for the bees to keep warm. To make sure that the bees have plenty of stores for winter, I apply a candy board in late fall and feed syrup through the top feeder when the weather warms in the spring. Don't put the flow super back on top until it's needed for the honey flow.
How do i keep the sugar water from pooring into the box ? i seen you used the screen but did you use anything inside the jar? This is an awesome video thank you for all of the great information. These are excellent ideas.
You will see in the video that the lid of the jar of syrup has several holes that have been punctured by a small nail. The lid has, also, been flattened so that the surface of the lid sits on the screen. When you invert the jar, the suction will hold the syrup from leaking into the hive.
You can buy spare parts for the Original Flow Frames, unfortunately the Chinese frames are larger holes or smaller as I do have both, they are not interchangeable. Yes they are also hard to find if you drop them, I lost one from my Chinese flow frame and couldn't buy a spare any where so I made my own cover. I bought spare parts for my Original for only a few dollars and as yet haven\t had to use them as once you have used the flow frames a couple times you get in the habit of using a small plastic container to place the parts in. I prefer the A frame roof with the flat board and hole in the middle top board as we get well over 35C+ in Spring and Summer and air flow is very important, this means I have an open screen bottom and the High pitch roof on all my hives as well as placed so that the shade from my trees get them during the hottest parts of the day. We don't get what people would call a Winter where I live and so we have plants flowering all year round, no need to change our Hive make up. Also for the price of the full Chinese kit, I couldn't be bothered building or modifying a normal ten deep box. I just replace their base with the Hive Dr as I prefer their base design for my area. Thanks to getting flowers all year around, we don't get the robbing you people talk about, even a weak hive doesn't get robbed or attacked, so really shows how the area and weather make a huge difference on how much work a Hive can bee.
Yes. Buy a set of 7 autoflow frames off Ebay and then, modify a standard deep super box to put them in. Here's a video of how to do the modification: th-cam.com/video/uR20DVAeMGw/w-d-xo.html
Filtering the honey with this method is not really a separate step. You will have to pour the honey from the catch buckets into the gated bucket any way so that you can jar up the honey. You'll just put that screen over the gated bucket as you pour you honey into it. Also, you won't want to take any more equipment than necessary into your bee yard.
Can you give us a walk-through of your hives. I’m in the process of setting up my stands with the PVC in the tilt with the wedges and re-doing the boxes would like to see exactly how you’ve done it please thank you God bless you and stay safe
I've shared almost all my info with pictures on the Beekeeping Hacks page on Facebook. Do a search of "flow hive" on their page and most of my posts will come up. How to modify deep super for flow: th-cam.com/video/uR20DVAeMGw/w-d-xo.html Lynn Skaggs
Thank you for the video! Have you bought Chinese streaming frames directly from Texas or have you used shipping from China? Like and greetings from St. Petersburg!
Hello again, do the Chinese flow frames fit in the real auto flow hive body? Does the flow hive modification blueprint for a langstroth 10 frame deep box work for the Chinese flow frames as well? Same fit?I'm getting ready to modify the 10 frame deep you advised for 7 flow frames.
I was real upset to know that only the chinese knock off was available in my area and was on the brink of giving up on the flow supers and move on to the traditional style of harvesting honey which would be a heck of a stress. But here i am and having learnt about how the chinese knock off still works perfectly despite the minute differences from the original Flow i feel much confident now into getting the chinese version. Nevertheless, I'll be sure to get the original flow frames or the whole set one day😆. Pretty broke now and no shipping available to my area from Australia so. Thank you so much for the wonderful information. 😁✨💫
Where do you get the metal strip that you place to close the gap between the frames and the lower box? Thanks for sharing your experience and expertise! This video is great.
Excellent video and very well explained. And your right. The Flow Hive is way too expensive and if there is a cheaper option which performs same task then why not.
Im just grtting started with bees so forgive my terminology. Regarding the flow frames and being angled, could you not angle the hive to the front, then turn the super around 180 degrees so it would technically be tilted to the rear (from the front of the super, which would be the back of the hive)? I bought one of these chinese flow hives and dont even have bees yet, so im very grateful to have come across your video!
Turning around a hive full of bees with 3 very, very heavy deep boxes would be quite the trick. So much easier to just tilt it back with the setup I described when draining and then tilt it forward, again, for normal operations. Good luck with your beekeeping!
@@psyched1231 in my head it would be set up bckwards from the very beginning so you wouldnt need to turn it around, ot would already be backwards. By no means take this as me bing argumentive, im 100% positive you are MUCH more experienced than me!
@@UserFormelyKnownAs_hjkh I think you may be confused by the way I made the video. For the demonstration of the tilt, I left the back of the flow super as the front because it was already facing the camera. The main thing is that the hive entrance it tilted down when normal and up with the back of the hive down when draining the frames.
@@psyched1231 ahhh i think i understand now. So you have the pvc pipe under the bottom board of the entire hive, is that correct? Again, please forgive my lack of knowledge.
Maybe I'm just not that smart or I'm missing something...? What's the purpose of tilting it? I thought these set on stands and all you do is open the chambers to drain them. I've never seen any demonstrations where they've needed to tilt the boxes. Is this necessary, just specific to the Chinese model, or just the way you have this one set up?
I only use the flow supers, not the flow hive. The flow hive is built tilting backward so that the frames will drain. Everyone tilts their hives forward to keep rainwater from running in and collecting in the back of the hive. Flow hives solve this problem by using a screened bottom board. Like most who have used both, I prefer a solid bottom board. If you research this, you'll find why most who tried the screened have got back to solid. I keep bees in standard 10-frame double deeps with a solid bottom board and unless draining frames, keep the tilted forward to keep the rain out. Rather than go to screened boards like Flow, I keep them tilted forward and only tilt them back to drain the frames. Flow hives are way too expensive and only use one brood box. Your bees will be better served using 2 standard 10-frame deep brood boxes and only put the flow super on for the honey flow. Once drained, the flow supers are stored until the next honey flow.
Defeats the point of a flow hive. The great thing about a flow hive is that each frame has different types and flavors of honey. How do you keep your hoses clean?
The point of using the flow super is to get the honey without all the work, time, and mess of rob & extract. A feature of the flow frames is that, if your honey flow includes different flowers at different times, you can selectively drain the different honeys. In both areas where I have kept bees I haven't been able to use this feature. In both cases the flow was made by just one dominant plant blooming. After I've drained all my frames, I soak my hoses in the bathtub until they're clean and free of honey.
thank you so very much! I've been researching flow hive for over a year because i really want a couple of small hives in my yard for my home garden. I've been watching every video that i can get my hands on and I've become a member of my local bee keeper association (even though i don't have bees yest and have never had them). Being a member of the association has allowed me to observe and participate in inspections and i feel confident i know what to do to deal and prevent pests and problems like hive beetles, was moths and varroa. My only concern now (and what's stopping me from going forward) is the fear that my hive won't stay long but that it will get big too fast and that i'll have to split it or they'll abscond/swarm. i live in south central Florida, so we don't really have winter to worry about, just dearths. it's this a realistic concern? is there anything i can do to keep the population stable? i appreciate any input you can provide me with and i love that you went through the trouble of reviewing the Chinese one. its not as bad as i thought it was going to be! please keep putting info out on bee keeping and have you had a chance to watch Jeff Willard's invention to prevent hive beetles? (don't know if that's a problem where you are but it may be worth a watch. Here's the link: th-cam.com/video/NpeT0_JaNsQ/w-d-xo.html . Sorry for the long post, but i'm really excited to have bees and you have managed to amp up my excitement. You, Sir, have earned a subscriber! thank you!
Most beeks would be very happy to have a hive grow big and fast. Worry comes when the hive goes in the other direction. You're best to get some local bee keepers to help you learn to manage bees in your area. I think Willard's ideas about blocking beetles from entering is really good. However, I would recommend breaking their life cycle by not letting the larva crawl off the bottom board and pupate in the ground. To do this, place landscape fabric under your hive stands and out well beyond the bottom board entrance. If the larvae can't reach the dirt and become beetles, they can't populate your yard.
@@psyched1231 you r mostly right about beek wanting big hives, but i would be an urban beekeeper and so space would be limited. i agree w/ u about not allowing the hive beetles to pupate (i hate them!) i was thinking of placing a dusting of diatomaceous earth in the bottom pan
Great video. One of the best top to bottom. Congrats! Fred. PS: at this point l believe you put the flow box facing the back of the hive. That way is the right (or the better) to avoid disturbing the normal traffic of the hive. Congrats again!
Thanks! You're right the box was reversed from what it should be on the hive. I should have turned it when I described setting the angle. Good luck with your flow!
Thank you for the comparison. I couldn't agree more in your view of Flow Hive's decision to price their equipment so high. There are so many that I know that would jump right in with Flow Hive if they were priced more responsibly. I really like the flow hive people's videos. And one should have the right to make money, expectably on such a good idea. But I as with most all I have heard from, do consider their pricing more than a bit greedy. Knowone that I know wants to buy from the Chinese. Their reputation of complete disregard of design and manufacture rights seems to be well earned. When I think of the Flow Hive company and their chosen business model I am left to wonder, Is their pricing a blatant example of greed or is their manufacturing resources so limited that their pricing is a unavoidable default? When you think about how important Bee's are to our planet as well as the love for Bee's that the Flow Hive's people represent they have, the two don't mesh. I mean we are not talking about a new color of blue jean here. This is an invention that could potentially bring countless new people to the husbandry of Bees. I mean could they be more important and the more people we can get involved with their support and preservation the better right? If these hives were made available to more than say the 10% of people that might be able to afford them it could literally help change the world for the better. To me, if Flow Hive really cared about bees and their farthing support, they might project this care by being content with getting rich with a little less hast from a much larger community. As it is, I will not buy the Chinese offering out of principle, whether or not they are as good. but I can't bring myself to condemn those who do in witness of such a seemly blatant example of greed.
Very well put, to knowingly buy a product either ripped off or out right stolen makes you an accomplice to the theft and what does that say about you? I also understand your point about the unreasonably high price set by the Australian, especially considering that they asked for and received crowd funding for their startup costs. I for one would like to hear an explanation from them and how they in good conscience justify such a high price for their product.
@@jerkyturkey007 I've read that the original flow frame system was a 1940's American patent that used the same system as the new Australian system, but was made of metal. It seems the Australians took the idea and cast it in plastic which wasn't available to the American patent holder. The American patent was suggesting aluminum. Now, with the new plastic material, it would work. So... who's ripping off who?? I don't know and, actually, that's just not my job. What I decided was to recognize that I'm not an international policeman deciding patent law and on who's ripping off who. What I really am is an American consumer. My responsibility is to my family. My job is to buy what my family needs at the best price from legitimate sources - Ebay, Amazon, Walmart, etc. All of which sell the much, much less expensive and equally effective Chinese frames. Since I really like this honey harvest system, I'm pleased that I have the opportunity to afford it.
Upon further reflection, I may have been a little too strong in my verbage about buying from the chicoms, who may or may not be stealing the design from the Australian co. Competition is a good thing.
@@psyched1231 Yep, the original patent is available online. Don't have the link handy. Patents also typically expire after 20 years. In this case they probably patented "improvements" in the system but the underlying idea is the same as far as I could tell from not knowing anything about this stuff. So anyone could go and take the original patented system, make their own changes and patented it as well or produce product with it. Whenever I see a company that's used other peoples ideas and then aggressively tries to protect their own (while claiming they "invented it"), I have zero respect for them or their products and have no idea using someone elses.
@@happycamper4329 If you can buy 3 or more for the price of one of theirs, then you're getting more than what you would get from them. At least know some facts before you try and use some moral highground and preach for them. The design was patented by someone else I think in the early 1900s. They created a derivative product well after that patent expired. Have they given credit at least in recognition of that or do they pass it off as purely their invention? Why aren't they licensing it? Why aren't they manufacturing in a less expensive place? Their derivative design is great, but I really don't see their actions as being so pure that anyone should just send them money for the hell of it. Having actually done design work years back with getting prototypes of things like plastic injection molding kiosk frames etc, I have no idea where they hell they would have spent all the money they got from crowdfunding. So to me, everything I see smells of pure greed on their part. But if you're happy spending so much, you go right ahead and let everyone else do what they think is best for them.
This is exactly the info I was looking for! My bees didn’t use the knock off (KO) frames. I didn’t know if something was different with the KO.. must have been my poor quality queen. You would thin flow have would reduce price but they haven’t. Excellent video!
They are deep frames. A 10 frame deep box takes 7 flow frames. If you use 8 frame boxes, you'll put in 6 flow frames. Since, with the flow system you won't need to lift any heavy honey supers, go with the 10 frame size. Might as well get all the honey you can.
Thank you sir, my plan is to have two brood boxes below the honey super, thank you again I am a novice I appreciate you sharing your wisdom and experience .Sorry for all the questions I'm on a limited budget trying to get it right first time around. So these will fit the Chinese autoflow brood box? www.ebay.com/itm/10-Frames-w-Foundation-for-Langstroth-BeeHive-Deep-Brood-Box-Super-Unassembled/111111914218?hash=item19dec942ea:g:uNkAAOxyuGFRy7xW
@@Krowmobe Yes. They'll fit. That is the correct set up. In my beekeeping, those two boxes belong exclusively to the bees and everything above them is mine. I try to never go into and violate those brood boxes. I never go in to check and just look around. I trust the bees to know exactly what they're doing and they have continued to reward my respect handsomely.
If you talking about the bucket that you drain honey into, I don't think you can use a screw-on lid with all those tubes connected to it. You'll find the EZ Off lid to be the only kind that is practical for this.
Here's a link on Ebay. They've gotten more expensive, but still no where near the price of the frames from Australia. - www.ebay.com/itm/7-Auto-Honey-Bee-Hive-Frames-Kit-Raw-Bee-Hive-Harvesting-Beehive-Frames-UPS/153566908488?_trkparms=aid%3D1110001%26algo%3DSPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D225085%26meid%3D67cf7f8e5cc245db81d46bc456db8435%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dco%26sd%3D183406988083%26itm%3D153566908488%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851
I really love this info. I was thinking the chinese flow hive might not qork and i would have to pay 8 timea more for the flowhive frames. I do give credit to the creator of flowhive but i cant afford it so i appriciate this i fo in helping me decide a cheaper option for a great job and a hobby
This is great! I have one flow hive from way back when they had their kickstarter. I went to go buy another and was shocked by the price, so had started to look at the other companies with their versions. This video was super helpful. Thank you!
It looks like they're out of stock right now at Walmart, Amazon, and Ebay. Maybe the virus or could be some of the new tariff trade policies. www.walmart.com/ip/VEVOR-7Pcs-Auto-Flow-Bee-Comb-Beehive-Frames-Auto-Flow-Honey-Plastic-Honey-Beekeeping-Beehive/479766027
The libtard / media would probably blame Trump for these being out of stock. I’m so sick of that crap in Washington. I wish my bees would sting all the politicians in the butt so they would get up and do something sensible instead of fighting with each other about dumb stuff that doesn’t matter to normal folks like us.
You are a genius sir! You're style of problem solving reminds me of my Dad so much. I found all the answers I needed today, and so much more!
china knockoffs are made with pine not ceder
Best informational video I have seen so far on Flow type systems and general tending. Thank you!
A really excellent video and instructions about the Flow Hive. Am interested on how you deal with wintering your Flow hives?
I only used the Flow supers for the honey flow. After I drain the honey, I remove the Flow super and store it until next spring.
Thank you. I'm not willing, or able, to pay what Flow wants for their products and thought about the Chinese version. Being unsure if they were any good, your video was pure gold. I'll add one to one of my hives and give it a go. Again, thank you!
china knockoffs are made with pine not ceder
@@WayneMineing the hive itself doesn't matter, the frames are available seperately
I am in no shape or form a beekeepers or an enthusiast but the magic of TH-cam drove me to your video because I was remotely interested in the Flow Hive. I commend you for all these very clearly laid out argument and presentation about the Chinese knock-off, the feeding systems pros/cons. Having absolutely zero knowledge of beekeeping I found myself sometimes lost about the technical terms but you made your point across nevertheless. Thanks for your knowledgeable insight and your oratory skills! Cheers from a French viewer.
The point of draining each frame separately is because you get different types of honey from different flowers but you obviously like mixing all your honey together so you do you. The idea of the tube is good but I would still personally do each frame separately.
Just saying do you know if he has a flower farm? The bees are getting pollen from all sorts so it won’t matter
@@JahisLovePsalms Honey is nektar, not pollen. Either way, flowers bloom and produce nectar at different times in the year. Because of that you can get different tasting honey depending on the season. It does matter.
@@ulaBexactly so sourwood honey would also be mixed with clover honey so it's mixed any way
Let him do what he want .... dont make comment as if you knows better .... its good that you make your own video
For years i've been watching beekeeping videos for tips and tricks, and this is one of the better ones. You have a clever mind and are well spoken, thank you.
OUTSTANDING Video. Only question I have is Why not do your strainer (pet screen) and distribution bucket all at same time? Why not have the one bucket doing all? Again ,awesome video
This has been very helpful for me being my first bee hive,🙏
Wonderful. Thank you for sharing. I'm not a beekeeper but this gives me great hope!
I am new to bees.. but I have been watching beehive videos like a madman. this has been the only info that seems worth watching from all the videos out there
All that piping will get sticky and waste honey. And if you combine all the frames in one bucket, you combine all the flavors of honey. You can tell by the colors in the frames. You should drain each frame of honey into different jars
THIS GUY IS A GENEROUS GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Haven't bought one yet but plans to now with your video.
Absolutely love it.
God Bless You And Your Family Sir. 🙌 🤗
agree!
How'd it go?
Best flow hive video I have seen. I am planning on buying one of the Chinese hives to use as a template and then making my own from cedar I have harvested and milled.
I'm glad the bees like the Chinese frames.
I'm not sure I would trust Chinese plastic to be non-toxic though. They don't have much in the way of regulation over there to ensure food handling products are fit for use, in my opinion. Personally, I'd not go near the Chinese copy for this reason. The last thing you need is poisons in your honey....
Flow are incredibly diligent to make sure that the plastics they use are food safe.
Talking from experience, or just blabbing hatred towards Chinese products? 90% of the worlds products are made in China with food safe plastics.
Thanks for your you tube I had been using the flow hive for a few years. I am looking to build a AZ hive with the flow hive frames I this it will address some of the problems you talked about.
Thank you for this video it gives me peace of mind on buying Chinese version cause original flowhive is quite expensive
McGregor lindo cabasug did you ever get one? If so how is it going? Trying to work out if I should get the Air Flow (Chinese model( or not get into bee keeping, as you said the Flowhive is just to expensive to consider.
I don’t think this is right. You can enjoy your peace of mind until someone stole your idea/invention and make an easy profits from it. This is how we are weakening our country. No one cares the authenticity of invention.
@@dvdgalutube I agree and it’s a shame. There’s copyrights laws and etc to protect inventors, but China bypass them all. I feel so sorry for the original inventors in so many ways😢. What’s the point in making something when it gets stolen and you can’t fight for your ideas
@@BellaIsa8603the original flowhive is expensive.
I support chinese knockoffs
Good idea of painting the to and bottom caps. I’ve already lost one the top caps!
I was all set to go with Flow when I first got my first nuc. I decided to try the Chinese instead and I'm pleased that I did - for the price, they seem very comparable. I have 3 hives now and purchased 3 more Chinese versions for the 2026 season.
Amazing video, You cleared so many questions in a very understandable and easy way. Helping people a LOT!! thanks for taking your time to do this and sharing your knowledge
Absolute best video I've seen on the subject myself but I've only started looking into this and getting this bee Buzz 4 days ago. I have cancer and can't work so I've had a lot of time to look into beekeeping and have literally watched close to a hundred videos probably. So obviously I'm brand-new and haven't bought anything yet but this is definitely what I'm going to do. Your video and your advice is unmatched. One thing that I would do when I extract into the bucket, I would maybe try to put a filter there and make it go into a bucket that you can make your jars from.. that way you eliminate that step. I don't know if you already thought of that or somebody mentioned it but like I said I'm brand new to all of this and I really have this sudden obsession with it that will go great with my organic garden that I'm planting this year. I need a mentor
Thanks! I'm glad this info helps. Yes, you do need a local mentor. However, you might hive trouble finding a mentor that will support your desire to use flow supers.
If you find one you like and they don't know about (or like) this new approach to getting honey, just use them to help your get your bees going. I recommend keeping bees in hives that almost everyone uses (double deeps with a solid bottom board), but use flow supers to get your honey. After you drain the flow super, take it off and store it until next year's honey flow.
If you start a garden, you might want to know about wicking beds. Since I put in this wicking bed design, we have had so much produce that we bought two more freezers! th-cam.com/video/3DeEG1yzAqk/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=psyched1231
Please provide more details of how you made the filter device. You said something about cutting the bottom off a bucket but with the camera so close I couldn't see how that is or make sense of it. Thanks for the great and helpful video.
Thanks for the honest evaluation without conflict of interest.
Thanks much how they take to full the frames
Wonderful video, where can I purchase the Chinese frames, I'm new to bee keeping in the Caribbean.
Im still new to this... why do you tilt it backwards when the honey flows out the front?
The box was turned the wrong way so I could show the frames. To get the honey, the opening should be in the back and, then, tilted backwards.
Have you thought of putting your filter into your collection bucket? (The lid should fit and could save a step?)
Great info.
Thanks for sharing 👍✌😎
Each hive delivers around 4 gal and I have a collection bucket for each hive. It's pretty easy and quick to just pour each bucket through the filter.
@@psyched1231 cool, just a thought. 👍
When do you put on your flow super? In the spring? April?
Yep. For me here in Texas it's April or whenever the Indian Blanket starts blooming.
There was spare caps in side the package with the key handle with my FLOW HIVE kit, Aussie version.
link ?
@@cultleader6977 www.honeyflow.com.au/collections/all. Go to spare parts for the spare caps and key covers.
Yeah but it is like $1000 which is unaffordable for most people
Australia gets their flo frames from china anyway, that’s why they are so hi , you can buy an entire flo hive system from china for as low as $254 , i bought one for $254 and it had bottom board, brood box , flo super and frames , screen top , Queen excluder, the keys , the tubes , extra parts entrance with swing gates , everything you need basically for a functional colony , im a woodworker so I fixed all the minor issues and it’s a nice hive , I have 4 actually 😝
Do you have a link to this?
Not correct. Flow frames are definitely made in Australia, just down the road from me here in Brisbane. In fact, my son in law is the supervisor in the plastic injection facility. Chinese only make their own knockoffs.
@@billrodiger7697 I believe you , Chinese do not care about patents I should know this 😋
You have a link homie to the china goods? I love a good deal
@@NightWolf-vv5me i’m going to sell 4 new flo hive frames, i have 28 total never used , i will sell all 28 for 1k , they are deeps and i forgot if it was 5or 7 that fit in a 10 deep
I have some concerns about the plastic that these Chinese flow hives are made out of, do we know that they're food safe and aren't leeching some toxin into the honey?
Yes. It's safe. Please click the Show More under the video.
Fantastic information pack video. I appreciate your time given. My plans are much clearer now
Thank you so much for this video. I bought 2 Chinese flow hives, painted the keepers orange and am using the mason jar feeding method. So far things are going great. Got 2 nucs in May this year. In just a month needed to add a medium hive box and yesterday put on the flow hive. Q? Should I continue to feed 1:1 syrup with the flow hive on ? How do I know when to stop feeding syrup?
Congrats! You're on the right track to success. Don't put on the flow until you're finished feeding and the honey flow has begun. Then, take off the syrup. You don't want them to store sugar syrup in the flow. When the honey flow starts, they'll stop taking syrup. Also when the flow starts, you'll see a whirlwind of activity as bees by the thousands are bringing in nectar. That's the time to put on the flow.
Are you using all mediums? I like to keep two deeps or 3 mediums for the bees. That gives them plenty of brood room and plenty of honey storage for their survival through winter. Everything above those boxes is mine and that means a flow super.
@@psyched1231 hi ! Thanks for sharing your knowledge! Question : how in fact is the honey “uncapped” so as to be released ?
Have first auto flow package. Has solid wood bottom board. Is the access strip enough ventilation in hot Texas summer or should I cut out bottom board for a ventilation screen? Deeply appreciate you.
Don't cut out the bottom board. Most that have tried ventilated bottom boards have gone back to solid - too many issues. I am in this Texas heat, too, and use screened inner covers on my bees to keep them cooler. When the flow starts, I put screened inner covers over the Flow supers to help the bees get the moisture out and cure the nectar. They have to evaporate about 6 lbs of water for every 1 pound of honey. I, also, staple a sheet of Reflectix on my lids to keep the sun reflected. Reflectix on the lid drops the hive temp about 10 degrees.
What brand did you go with as far as the Chinese model. I was looking at Golden palace. Thank you for this video
I have bought Chinese flow frames off Ebay on several occasions and have never found any difference in them. I think they are probably all made by the same manufacturer.
Could you share Chinese source from which you have bought frames?
www.ebay.com/itm/165789684452?hash=item2699d5d2e4:g:2WQAAOSwejlje7wB&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoCChX94Mw42%2F8feE2lSm95jutpFV5OGDBuBiVsdGZBZMtij08%2Ba1qqAIc573o3rHsWUCqRqz9YHdg8I7tVUElb5Lhxlc9XBUUvL5HZwDhl9amnjL4%2B5uh%2B4XITDMGHrLfWMYaQFlc%2BFtrcbNVXXiTlC%2FHtx2CXujOneZ3lu3N9V2%2B8AiBUkKghxy0prvYtZ3QU6a3HIk53ApMpm4xUEHpho%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR6yx2u6lYQ
Dear psyched I have two Chinese flow hives in the UK. I am looking at you video with the greatest of interest.
I like you find these £170 complete from Amazon satisfactory quality. I put the plastic 7 frame super on a month ago but I'm anxious that they seem to be taking a long time to draw/ seal the frames of the flow plastic units. There are plenty of bees working in it. I put a bit of wax on the lower frames to get them to go into the plastic!
I am concerned and don't know what to do re should I feed 1to one syrup to help the bees draw the frames with wax more quickly? I'd be very grateful of your advice.
I have no varroa now but did have. In a month the 50 a day drop is none now. I feel the colony is proliferating now.
I see you have a feeder access hole on your Flow supers but I'm not clear if you feed your bees until they have got the frames ready foe honey.....
As a new beekeeper I thought it was a no no to feed once the honey supers are on?
I have made none drown top feeders that can be used with syrup or fondant,
I luckily bought second hand Marks & Spencer plastic cake tins 19" dia. They have parallel vertical sides. If required the lid can be vented. The none dron idea has been achieved by .5mm plastic discs that fit right to the sides inside the tins but the edges have been cut with pinking shears that leave a small gap all round the outer perimiter. The same cutting where the thin sheet meets the tube in the centre hole. the tube fitted /stuck into the base /centre of the bottom of the tin rises up but leaves 1/2" at top for the bees to access the feeder. I sanded the surface of the tube which is 2" diameter. I see the commercial folks have only just designed a none drown top feeder!
I hope you can put me right and cure my question what to do for the best.
I will be getting an additional colony Saturday so the second flow hive will be on it's way to production soon but no honey from that one this year!
To get your bees to start using the flow frames, it is very important to very generously paint the frames with beeswax. I use a foam trim roller, dip it in melted wax and generously roll plenty of wax on the cells. Once they have used the frames to store honey, they will jump to them from then on.
No. Never feed bees during the honey flow. That would contaminate the honey. I only feed during the time leading up to the flow to help them build their numbers.
@@psyched1231 Thank you so much for the quick reply. I painted a bit of beeswax on the lower cells and the bees are working them well. I suppose a bigger colony = quicker honey production, quicker everything really? We'll have to be very patient.
could also glue a metal bit to the clear caps so you can find it with a magnet too
Very good video. But why don't you just place the filter between the lid with the tubes and the collecting bucket? I think it would fit perfectly, and the honey would be filtered and collected in just one step.
The honey wouldn't be able to go through the filter fast enough and it would overflow out the lid tube holes. The amount of honey from a full flow super is around 4 1/2 gallons.
In my area, only one wildflower dominates - Indian Blanket (Gaillardia) - Fabulous Honey! When it blooms, that's the only flower that the bees want to work in any volume. So, here, there's no mixing.
thank you very much for your complete and thorough video...learned tonight how much easier to put this bee hive I purchased..
HELLO SIR, HOW DO YOU CLEAN THE 7 TUBE APPARATUS YOU’VE CREATED TO DRAIN THE HONEY?
Great question - I put the tubes groups in my swimming pool and let the honey coating in them dissolve. Works great! If I didn't have a pool, I'd probably use the bath tub.
@@psyched1231 LOL
Can someone tell me the keys from the original flow from Australia works with the Chinese?
Yes. The keys work exactly the same.
@@psyched1231My understanding he is asking, "Are they same dimensions and interchangeable between manufacturers?" Not, "Are they the same technology?"
@@mikemotorbike4283 I believe they are an exact copy and interchangeable.
Question, after you drain your flo super in the summer do you put a regular super on so the bees can forage for nector for their winter food ?
I forgot to thank you for this video , it’s actually better than flowhives explanation on harvesting, better technical and practical techniques lol kudos!!
Have you found a source for purchasing the caps? I have lost one, will be following your advice with the rest of them this afternoon. For the life of me I can't find one of them. Great video by the way. They should give you spare plugs or at least sell them separately.
I think this might take care of it - www.honeyflow.com/products/flow-frame-caps-covers-and-tube-kit
@@psyched1231 Wow awesome, that will take care of it. Thank you so much.
Thanks mate, straightforward advice, not endless waffle!
Hi sir, great video.
Please could you make more comprehensive videos of your practices as I am new to bee keeping and have bought an Aussie flow hive because I believed it will keep bee deaths to a minimum.
You sir certainly look like you know what your talking about and I would like to learn more.
Could you possibly make a step by step video of your hive construction and other bits of good advice please if you haven’t already.
Thank you.
God bless you.
Thank you and congratulations on buying Flow hive. The flow system is very much easier on the bees and, of course, the beekeeper than the old standard robbing and extracting. I have made a couple of other bee videos that you might enjoy. I think you can click on my "psyched1231" above and find them. Of course, if you subscribe, you'll get notified if I make more. Good luck with this wonderful new endeavor!
You gave a great tutorial on the auto and flow hives. If you used cellphone have a young person or store where you purchased it to show how to use selfies. That way you can see what you are recording. We were thinking of being bee keepers, however, like you said too messy but now I want to do it.
one question I have about the top feeder, does the syrup not leak down into the hive through the holes? amazing idea that I want to try.
No. The suction holds is until the bees drawn it out.
When do you put on the flow frames? In the spring? You said in the video around 20:19 that you’re going to want to take off the flow frames cause you’re going to want to feed in the spring. Can you clarify when to put on the flow frames, when to harvest, and when to take off the flow frames?
You put on the flow supers when the honey flow starts in your area. After the honey flow is over and the bees have had time to cure and cap all their honey, you will drain the frames into the buckets as discussed in the video. After you take the honey and the bees have had time to clean up the frames, you'll remove the flow supers and store them until the next spring honey flow. Good luck!!
Awesome video! Thanks Very much for sharing your Bee Wisdom & God Bless Y'all! U Got -ER-Done!
Hola amigo desde España saludos ..una pregunta..¿cómo se llama la empresa q distribuye estas colmenas chinas? ..¿nombre del fabricante? me interesa..gracias .
I buy mine on Ebay. Do a search on Ebay for "beehive auto frames" or "beehive flow frames"
I love your sieve idea. In fact, I love all your ideas :) Perhaps we could incorporate one structure in the extraction process so that sieving is done at the time of extraction
china knockoffs are made with pine not ceder
@@WayneMineingwow with the spamming
Do you have a link to the Chinese versions?
I've always bought them off Ebay. www.ebay.com/itm/274755538863?hash=item3ff8b4cfaf:g:I04AAOSwQnpgc8Hl
I know my honey is ready by seeing it capped. How do you know it's ripe?
I check the same way. Just pull a couple of the flow frames. However, I usually wait until late July to take the honey and it's been so long since the spring by then, that all of it is ready to drain.
Do you not have a screened bottom board that your hive sits on? Is your hive closed on the bottom or open? Mine is open and sits on the screened base.
No. They're solid.
Where to find Chinese Copy Auto-flow?
www.amazon.com/Beehive-Harvest-Beekeeping-Harvesting-Equipment/dp/B07ZCN639Q
Thanks!!
Great video
Are you putting holes in the ball jar lid? How do the bees get the food?
Thanks! Yes. I use a small frame nail to poke 5 - 8 holes in the lid. The large mouth lid gives room for several bees to drink from it at one time.
The latest Chinese Flo Hive (Just bought one and put it together) has the key and honey gathering on the opposite side of the entrance now. It also came with a 7 frame all Cedar Super with a nicely peaked roof and a brood box. I just hope the low frames work as they look really cheap. But I have also never seen an Australian Flow Hive so I don't know. I guess we'll see
I'm sorry that on my video I didn't make it clear that the doors to the flow frames was on the back of the hive. I have 5 Flow sets from Australia and seven of the Chinese. The frames seem identical as far as quality. I have used both for years now and all are holding up well.
My strong recommendation is to add another deep brood box before you add the flow super. I keep my bees in two deep brood boxes and just add my flow super for the honey flow. I take it off and store it after I drain the honey. Those two brood boxes are theirs and I never touch them. Everything above those two are mine and that's where the flow super comes in.
Where did you buy your hive?
@@jenn2597 It popped up on one of those Facebook adds and I didn't know it was the Chinese knock-off until it arrived.
Thank you for your share, but the camera is too shaky *^_^*
Hello and thanks for the video. Are the tubes a food grade standard? I ask because I went to Home Depot and of all the tubing they had, none were listed as food safe.
Vinyl is food safe up to 170 degrees. Also, the honey passes through the tubes quite quickly. It is in the tubes only a very, very short time.
Very smart and practical solutions to messy problems.
hello, thanks for sharing your comparative experience. Could you tell me which is the internet page where you bought the china version. thanks.
www.ebay.com/itm/7Pcs-Auto-Flow-Honey-Beehive-Frames-Beekeeping-Kits-Bee-Hive-Frame-Harvesting-US/312799212887?hash=item48d4493557:g:iMEAAOSwT59dn0~Y
would you recommend using a horziontal long hive with flow frames?
No. The frames are designed to use with a standard Langstroth box. Using the standard Langstroth set up will allow you to add the flow super for the flow and then remove it until next season when you have drained the honey.
@@psyched1231 why do you have to remove flow frames over winter? does the plastic freeze? do you store flow frames inside house during winter? im from northern europe btw i was worried about that.
@@beeqool No. The frames don't freeze. You remove the flow super after draining because it is no longer needed on the hive and would just be more area for the bees to keep warm. To make sure that the bees have plenty of stores for winter, I apply a candy board in late fall and feed syrup through the top feeder when the weather warms in the spring. Don't put the flow super back on top until it's needed for the honey flow.
How do i keep the sugar water from pooring into the box ? i seen you used the screen but did you use anything inside the jar? This is an awesome video thank you for all of the great information. These are excellent ideas.
You will see in the video that the lid of the jar of syrup has several holes that have been punctured by a small nail. The lid has, also, been flattened so that the surface of the lid sits on the screen. When you invert the jar, the suction will hold the syrup from leaking into the hive.
@@psyched1231 Thank you !!!!!!!
You can buy spare parts for the Original Flow Frames, unfortunately the Chinese frames are larger holes or smaller as I do have both, they are not interchangeable.
Yes they are also hard to find if you drop them, I lost one from my Chinese flow frame and couldn't buy a spare any where so I made my own cover.
I bought spare parts for my Original for only a few dollars and as yet haven\t had to use them as once you have used the flow frames a couple times you get in the habit of using a small plastic container to place the parts in.
I prefer the A frame roof with the flat board and hole in the middle top board as we get well over 35C+ in Spring and Summer and air flow is very important, this means I have an open screen bottom and the High pitch roof on all my hives as well as placed so that the shade from my trees get them during the hottest parts of the day.
We don't get what people would call a Winter where I live and so we have plants flowering all year round, no need to change our Hive make up.
Also for the price of the full Chinese kit, I couldn't be bothered building or modifying a normal ten deep box.
I just replace their base with the Hive Dr as I prefer their base design for my area.
Thanks to getting flowers all year around, we don't get the robbing you people talk about, even a weak hive doesn't get robbed or attacked, so really shows how the area and weather make a huge difference on how much work a Hive can bee.
Great ideas !!! Thank you...... Gotta get a little red wagon ....or Garden cart put your honey bucket in and roll it
I’m ready to buy! Question.. is this the supers inside one of the old school boxes?
Yes. Buy a set of 7 autoflow frames off Ebay and then, modify a standard deep super box to put them in. Here's a video of how to do the modification: th-cam.com/video/uR20DVAeMGw/w-d-xo.html
Is there a reason you can’t filter the honey as it comes out of the hive (using a similar method) instead of doing it as a separate step?
Filtering the honey with this method is not really a separate step. You will have to pour the honey from the catch buckets into the gated bucket any way so that you can jar up the honey. You'll just put that screen over the gated bucket as you pour you honey into it. Also, you won't want to take any more equipment than necessary into your bee yard.
Can you give us a walk-through of your hives. I’m in the process of setting up my stands with the PVC in the tilt with the wedges and re-doing the boxes would like to see exactly how you’ve done it please thank you God bless you and stay safe
I've shared almost all my info with pictures on the Beekeeping Hacks page on Facebook. Do a search of "flow hive" on their page and most of my posts will come up. How to modify deep super for flow: th-cam.com/video/uR20DVAeMGw/w-d-xo.html
Lynn Skaggs
Thank you for the video! Have you bought Chinese streaming frames directly from Texas or have you used shipping from China? Like and greetings from St. Petersburg!
I bought the Chinese Auto frames off Ebay.
@@psyched1231 It is clear, I will search there, although in past searches, it seems, I did not find them. Thank you and good luck in your business!
Hello again, do the Chinese flow frames fit in the real auto flow hive body? Does the flow hive modification blueprint for a langstroth 10 frame deep box work for the Chinese flow frames as well? Same fit?I'm getting ready to modify the 10 frame deep you advised for 7 flow frames.
Yes. Both the Chinese and the Australian frames fit a standard deep hive body - 7 flows for a 10 frame deep.
@@psyched1231 thank you.
Great video. Thanks for all this valuable information!
You are great. Thank you. Love from Antigua Guatemala, OsoYolo.
I was real upset to know that only the chinese knock off was available in my area and was on the brink of giving up on the flow supers and move on to the traditional style of harvesting honey which would be a heck of a stress. But here i am and having learnt about how the chinese knock off still works perfectly despite the minute differences from the original Flow i feel much confident now into getting the chinese version. Nevertheless, I'll be sure to get the original flow frames or the whole set one day😆. Pretty broke now and no shipping available to my area from Australia so. Thank you so much for the wonderful information. 😁✨💫
floewhive now accept arfterpay payments
Wow! Awesome! Your hive video is excellent! Thank you so much for sharing. I enjoyed and will share with a friends.
Where do you get the metal strip that you place to close the gap between the frames and the lower box? Thanks for sharing your experience and expertise! This video is great.
I like the 1 1/2" wide, 1/16" thick aluminum bar. I've bought them from Ace Hardware and Home Depot.
Excellent video and very well explained. And your right. The Flow Hive is way too expensive and if there is a cheaper option which performs same task then why not.
flowhive now is accepting arfterpay paments
Im just grtting started with bees so forgive my terminology. Regarding the flow frames and being angled, could you not angle the hive to the front, then turn the super around 180 degrees so it would technically be tilted to the rear (from the front of the super, which would be the back of the hive)?
I bought one of these chinese flow hives and dont even have bees yet, so im very grateful to have come across your video!
Turning around a hive full of bees with 3 very, very heavy deep boxes would be quite the trick. So much easier to just tilt it back with the setup I described when draining and then tilt it forward, again, for normal operations. Good luck with your beekeeping!
@@psyched1231 in my head it would be set up bckwards from the very beginning so you wouldnt need to turn it around, ot would already be backwards. By no means take this as me bing argumentive, im 100% positive you are MUCH more experienced than me!
@@UserFormelyKnownAs_hjkh I think you may be confused by the way I made the video. For the demonstration of the tilt, I left the back of the flow super as the front because it was already facing the camera. The main thing is that the hive entrance it tilted down when normal and up with the back of the hive down when draining the frames.
@@psyched1231 ahhh i think i understand now. So you have the pvc pipe under the bottom board of the entire hive, is that correct? Again, please forgive my lack of knowledge.
Maybe I'm just not that smart or I'm missing something...? What's the purpose of tilting it? I thought these set on stands and all you do is open the chambers to drain them.
I've never seen any demonstrations where they've needed to tilt the boxes. Is this necessary, just specific to the Chinese model, or just the way you have this one set up?
I only use the flow supers, not the flow hive. The flow hive is built tilting backward so that the frames will drain. Everyone tilts their hives forward to keep rainwater from running in and collecting in the back of the hive. Flow hives solve this problem by using a screened bottom board. Like most who have used both, I prefer a solid bottom board. If you research this, you'll find why most who tried the screened have got back to solid.
I keep bees in standard 10-frame double deeps with a solid bottom board and unless draining frames, keep the tilted forward to keep the rain out. Rather than go to screened boards like Flow, I keep them tilted forward and only tilt them back to drain the frames. Flow hives are way too expensive and only use one brood box. Your bees will be better served using 2 standard 10-frame deep brood boxes and only put the flow super on for the honey flow. Once drained, the flow supers are stored until the next honey flow.
Excellent information on FLOW HIVES
i plan to buy this hive..can anyone teach me how to call bee to the hive?
Defeats the point of a flow hive. The great thing about a flow hive is that each frame has different types and flavors of honey. How do you keep your hoses clean?
The point of using the flow super is to get the honey without all the work, time, and mess of rob & extract. A feature of the flow frames is that, if your honey flow includes different flowers at different times, you can selectively drain the different honeys. In both areas where I have kept bees I haven't been able to use this feature. In both cases the flow was made by just one dominant plant blooming.
After I've drained all my frames, I soak my hoses in the bathtub until they're clean and free of honey.
😂that's right, I can't afford a flowhive,and I brought a Chinese hive for $212.00,the same,it comes with two boxes and all frames,❤it
Where did you purchase from?
Thank you
We have been hoping to get this going, your tips are great
Can you tell me where and which Chinese hive you purchased? I want to order the right one. Thank you.
Here's some of auto-frames from Walmart - www.walmart.com/ip/VEVOR-7Pcs-Auto-Flow-Bee-Comb-Beehive-Frames-Auto-Flow-Honey-Beekeeping-Beehive/392882056
psyched1231 I’m surprised that Walmart sells them as it surely it infringes on their patent
Thanks.. that's exactly what I needed to know. Cheers
thank you so very much! I've been researching flow hive for over a year because i really want a couple of small hives in my yard for my home garden. I've been watching every video that i can get my hands on and I've become a member of my local bee keeper association (even though i don't have bees yest and have never had them). Being a member of the association has allowed me to observe and participate in inspections and i feel confident i know what to do to deal and prevent pests and problems like hive beetles, was moths and varroa. My only concern now (and what's stopping me from going forward) is the fear that my hive won't stay long but that it will get big too fast and that i'll have to split it or they'll abscond/swarm. i live in south central Florida, so we don't really have winter to worry about, just dearths. it's this a realistic concern? is there anything i can do to keep the population stable? i appreciate any input you can provide me with and i love that you went through the trouble of reviewing the Chinese one. its not as bad as i thought it was going to be! please keep putting info out on bee keeping and have you had a chance to watch Jeff Willard's invention to prevent hive beetles? (don't know if that's a problem where you are but it may be worth a watch. Here's the link: th-cam.com/video/NpeT0_JaNsQ/w-d-xo.html . Sorry for the long post, but i'm really excited to have bees and you have managed to amp up my excitement. You, Sir, have earned a subscriber! thank you!
Most beeks would be very happy to have a hive grow big and fast. Worry comes when the hive goes in the other direction. You're best to get some local bee keepers to help you learn to manage bees in your area.
I think Willard's ideas about blocking beetles from entering is really good. However, I would recommend breaking their life cycle by not letting the larva crawl off the bottom board and pupate in the ground. To do this, place landscape fabric under your hive stands and out well beyond the bottom board entrance. If the larvae can't reach the dirt and become beetles, they can't populate your yard.
@@psyched1231 you r mostly right about beek wanting big hives, but i would be an urban beekeeper and so space would be limited. i agree w/ u about not allowing the hive beetles to pupate (i hate them!) i was thinking of placing a dusting of diatomaceous earth in the bottom pan
Great video.
One of the best top to bottom.
Congrats!
Fred.
PS: at this point l believe you put the flow box facing the back of the hive. That way is the right (or the better) to avoid disturbing the normal traffic of the hive.
Congrats again!
Thanks! You're right the box was reversed from what it should be on the hive. I should have turned it when I described setting the angle. Good luck with your flow!
thank you for this. most helpful video I have found.
thank you so much. It safes me a lot of money
Thank you for the comparison. I couldn't agree more in your view of Flow Hive's decision to price their equipment so high. There are so many that I know that would jump right in with Flow Hive if they were priced more responsibly.
I really like the flow hive people's videos. And one should have the right to make money, expectably on such a good idea. But I as with most all I have heard from, do consider their pricing more than a bit greedy.
Knowone that I know wants to buy from the Chinese. Their reputation of complete disregard of design and manufacture rights seems to be well earned.
When I think of the Flow Hive company and their chosen business model I am left to wonder, Is their pricing a blatant example of greed or is their manufacturing resources so limited that their pricing is a unavoidable default?
When you think about how important Bee's are to our planet as well as the love for Bee's that the Flow Hive's people represent they have, the two don't mesh. I mean we are not talking about a new color of blue jean here.
This is an invention that could potentially bring countless new people to the husbandry of Bees. I mean could they be more important and the more people we can get involved with their support and preservation the better right?
If these hives were made available to more than say the 10% of people that might be able to afford them it could literally help change the world for the better.
To me, if Flow Hive really cared about bees and their farthing support, they might project this care by being content with getting rich with a little less hast from a much larger community.
As it is, I will not buy the Chinese offering out of principle, whether or not they are as good. but I can't bring myself to condemn those who do in witness of such a seemly blatant example of greed.
Very well put, to knowingly buy a product either ripped off or out right stolen makes you an accomplice to the theft and what does that say about you?
I also understand your point about the unreasonably high price set by the Australian, especially considering that they asked for and received crowd funding for their startup costs.
I for one would like to hear an explanation from them and how they in good conscience justify such a high price for their product.
@@jerkyturkey007 I've read that the original flow frame system was a 1940's American patent that used the same system as the new Australian system, but was made of metal. It seems the Australians took the idea and cast it in plastic which wasn't available to the American patent holder. The American patent was suggesting aluminum. Now, with the new plastic material, it would work. So... who's ripping off who?? I don't know and, actually, that's just not my job. What I decided was to recognize that I'm not an international policeman deciding patent law and on who's ripping off who. What I really am is an American consumer. My responsibility is to my family. My job is to buy what my family needs at the best price from legitimate sources - Ebay, Amazon, Walmart, etc. All of which sell the much, much less expensive and equally effective Chinese frames. Since I really like this honey harvest system, I'm pleased that I have the opportunity to afford it.
Upon further reflection, I may have been a little too strong in my verbage about buying from the chicoms, who may or may not be stealing the design from the Australian co. Competition is a good thing.
@@psyched1231 Yep, the original patent is available online. Don't have the link handy. Patents also typically expire after 20 years. In this case they probably patented "improvements" in the system but the underlying idea is the same as far as I could tell from not knowing anything about this stuff. So anyone could go and take the original patented system, make their own changes and patented it as well or produce product with it. Whenever I see a company that's used other peoples ideas and then aggressively tries to protect their own (while claiming they "invented it"), I have zero respect for them or their products and have no idea using someone elses.
@@happycamper4329 If you can buy 3 or more for the price of one of theirs, then you're getting more than what you would get from them. At least know some facts before you try and use some moral highground and preach for them. The design was patented by someone else I think in the early 1900s. They created a derivative product well after that patent expired. Have they given credit at least in recognition of that or do they pass it off as purely their invention? Why aren't they licensing it? Why aren't they manufacturing in a less expensive place? Their derivative design is great, but I really don't see their actions as being so pure that anyone should just send them money for the hell of it. Having actually done design work years back with getting prototypes of things like plastic injection molding kiosk frames etc, I have no idea where they hell they would have spent all the money they got from crowdfunding. So to me, everything I see smells of pure greed on their part. But if you're happy spending so much, you go right ahead and let everyone else do what they think is best for them.
Great video. Thanks for sharing
This is exactly the info I was looking for! My bees didn’t use the knock off (KO) frames. I didn’t know if something was different with the KO.. must have been my poor quality queen. You would thin flow have would reduce price but they haven’t. Excellent video!
May I ask sir, what size frames the Chinese flow hive takes in the brood box, as the frames for the brood box dont come with it?
They are deep frames. A 10 frame deep box takes 7 flow frames. If you use 8 frame boxes, you'll put in 6 flow frames. Since, with the flow system you won't need to lift any heavy honey supers, go with the 10 frame size. Might as well get all the honey you can.
Thank you sir, my plan is to have two brood boxes below the honey super, thank you again I am a novice I appreciate you sharing your wisdom and experience .Sorry for all the questions I'm on a limited budget trying to get it right first time around. So these will fit the Chinese autoflow brood box? www.ebay.com/itm/10-Frames-w-Foundation-for-Langstroth-BeeHive-Deep-Brood-Box-Super-Unassembled/111111914218?hash=item19dec942ea:g:uNkAAOxyuGFRy7xW
@@Krowmobe Yes. They'll fit. That is the correct set up. In my beekeeping, those two boxes belong exclusively to the bees and everything above them is mine. I try to never go into and violate those brood boxes. I never go in to check and just look around. I trust the bees to know exactly what they're doing and they have continued to reward my respect handsomely.
@@psyched1231 Thank you again for your guidance.
you did the blocking and draining of honey etc backwards.
Yes. The drain goes to the back of the hive. For the video, I was just demonstrating the angle and how to get it easy.
im gonna try the bucket in a similar method but use a screw on lid.
If you talking about the bucket that you drain honey into, I don't think you can use a screw-on lid with all those tubes connected to it. You'll find the EZ Off lid to be the only kind that is practical for this.
Hi where did you buy your chinese clone flow hive?
Here's a link on Ebay. They've gotten more expensive, but still no where near the price of the frames from Australia. -
www.ebay.com/itm/7-Auto-Honey-Bee-Hive-Frames-Kit-Raw-Bee-Hive-Harvesting-Beehive-Frames-UPS/153566908488?_trkparms=aid%3D1110001%26algo%3DSPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D225085%26meid%3D67cf7f8e5cc245db81d46bc456db8435%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dco%26sd%3D183406988083%26itm%3D153566908488%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851
@@psyched1231
Awesome Thank You Sir!
could u link me a complete set, appreciated
240P?
Yes and we got 328lbs last spring from the flow supers.
I really love this info. I was thinking the chinese flow hive might not qork and i would have to pay 8 timea more for the flowhive frames. I do give credit to the creator of flowhive but i cant afford it so i appriciate this i fo in helping me decide a cheaper option for a great job and a hobby
This is great! I have one flow hive from way back when they had their kickstarter. I went to go buy another and was shocked by the price, so had started to look at the other companies with their versions. This video was super helpful. Thank you!
Purchasing of the Chinese hive promotes theft of intellectual property.
Anyone know where I can buy these Chinese frames?
It looks like they're out of stock right now at Walmart, Amazon, and Ebay. Maybe the virus or could be some of the new tariff trade policies.
www.walmart.com/ip/VEVOR-7Pcs-Auto-Flow-Bee-Comb-Beehive-Frames-Auto-Flow-Honey-Plastic-Honey-Beekeeping-Beehive/479766027
The libtard / media would probably blame Trump for these being out of stock. I’m so sick of that crap in Washington. I wish my bees would sting all the politicians in the butt so they would get up and do something sensible instead of fighting with each other about dumb stuff that doesn’t matter to normal folks like us.