Our first hive as new beekeepers was the flow hive. We love it, and the assembly as new beekeepers did not seem to be that bad. We actually enjoyed the process of building it and what it looked like when we were done. We remove the window covers when lifting for inspections. We have had the flow hive for three seasons now and it has been very manageable and a fun process for us.
I have kept bees in langstroth equipment for about 10+ yrs and purchased a Flow hive in 2021. It was so much fun! I put it together in about 2 hrs one evening. I too have criticisms such as handles on super etc. however harvesting is so much fun! The main thing is it is fantastic to engage people who are otherwise petrified of bees or simply have no idea what happens inside of a hive.
I’ve had my flow hives since 2019. I love the flow hive. You won’t see anywhere where they claim no maintenance or hands off. You have to manage like any other hive. Assembly was easy, not sure I remember any issues but it was a while ago. My biggest issue was the weight when inspecting the bottom box but I have that issue with a 10 frame box now that I’ve gotten older. I moved my frames to horizontal hive that I made with cut outs for the flow frames. It’s a game changer for me. I have access to all frames just by lifting the lid. Mite treatment and hive inspection is much easier. Only have one year on it so how well it works is still to be determined but management is much easier. Thumbs up for Flow Hive
Being a Toolmaker for 50 years, retired. I am not a beekeeper either. But I see a well thought out design. This is an advance in beekeeping. I'm 76, so I would never be a beekeeper. But so many years spent in R&D . I see a well thought out design. It covers Features in functionality no one has thought of. Lots of parts to assemble, that's life. But it's all good. My applause to these two inventors. Well done.
I bought my hybrid flow hive in 2020, I love it! I assembled it in less than a hour. I melted wax on the plastic frames and the bees went to work filling the frames. If you get one several things, 1. only put the key in a 1/4 of the way in and turn it slowly, let the honey to flow into the jar, as it slows push the key in 1/2 way, turn the key slowly allowing the honey to flow, then 3/4 of the way, then all the way in. Dont turn the whole thing once once or you'll have honey dripping on bees. Take your time, allowing it to all drain out before closing the frames. The bees will clean it up and start filling again. I love to, the honey is clean, I allow it to sit allowing anything to float to the top to spoon out.
If you assembled it in less than an hour you didn't buy what I bought. I spent an hour trying to figure where to place the windows because the "pre-drilled" window holes were NOT predrilled, nor were the holes where the slanted rails go, so I had to guess at the angle. Less than an hour!! You must be a master carpenter!!! Mind blown!! Good for you man.
I have a Flow Hive works ok. I found not to open all at once, I do it in 1/2s, if you open all the once it will overflow and run into box below. Workes better the second time its used. Also, paint all the caps red so if dropped in grass they are easy to find. Great video, David!
8 years into my 2 flow hives and going strong. David, I'm hoping better days ahead for you once all things settle, I wouldn't put the flow on until good numbers in the brood but a good idea to put some wax around the flow frames to enable the bees to close up the cells to begin the storing of honey. Wishing you well and please ... give it time! 🐝
Hint for removing the plugs and tabs is to use a pair of long nose pliers. Also only open the flow frame in small stages 1/4 at a time until the whole frame is open. Using two rods is open the frame is considerably easier. Remove the back panel on the super to produce a handle. I have rarely been able to lift a full super for inspections which is a real pain, but that is the point, you should never have to lift it full is should be emptied regularly, frame at a time.
How can you empty it regular. You still have to be sure the moisture level is 18%/capped over and it I'm waiting for it to dry out, I still have to inspect every 2 weeks.
@@beek True, but we have found that when the frames are filled so that the ends windows are full usually means that the frame is full and capped. We usually empty two frames at a time, and by the time they repair and attempt restoring the honey in these frames, two other frames are full. Lifting a full 7 frame super for inspection is possible but why you’d try to if they can be emptied so easily. The original flow hive is actually based on an 8 frame brood box with its 6 frame supper easier to manage and lift. Maybe 7 frame super is just too big.
Took me a little over an hour to assemble and this is my first hive ever. The instructions were super easy to understand for me. My hive is thriving and the handles work great for me. The honey frames hols a LOT of honey, more than a regular deep box. To inspect the honey frames you can pull them like a regular frame, you don't have to just use the windows. Since this hive I have also got a second old school hive and I enjoy it also. Assembly tip, lay out all the parts...
The instructions were some of the best I've ever used. This is one of the best designed and made piece of equipment ever. Everything fit together perfectly! I love it!
Having kept bees for over 40 years, I now have a flow hive in the garden. The best thing about it is, after extracting and bottling I don't have to clean up the knives, uncapping tank, extractor, bottling bucket and the floor. the entire cleanup is done "inhouse" by the bees. David, when you retire to a smaller property with "beekepers back" and arthritis. The flow hive will be the hive to keep. I really enjoy your videos. The effort put into production makes such a great difference. Funny how you keep learning new things.
David, there are screws in the back of the flowhive frames on top where you can bring the screws out more to bring frames forward and tighter. Also when using the flow key put ikey in part way and turn at a time. Like 1/3 of the way in at a time.
Take the super off. Its way too much space until the brood is full. Removing the super you have 2 easy options. Front to rear. One hand grip and use the harvest door lock (wood strap) the 2nd the window shutters left to right just use the brass knobs as handle. Set the harvesting 3° to the rear elevation now, its a bit harder to do when its full of bees and honey. I've flow hives as well as traditional and for a backyard beekeeper Flow Hives are great.
I am a new beekeeper and chose the Flow Hive because I want utilize their extraction process. However, everything else is exactly the same as a classic Langstroth experience. You must do inspections, you must check for and control mites, you must feed them at appropriate times, provide a water source in your apiary, prevent swarming, prevent the queen entering the super (when the super is added), etc. This includes putting on the Super when the appropriate conditions are met. So other than the extraction process, you are a still a beekeeper facing the same challenges as every other beekeeper. With a ton of videos available online, the Flow community removes a lot of guess work and tightens the beekeeping Flow workflow for newbies and experienced beekeepers alike.
PS. David. YES...The Super does have Handles ! Its called taking out the Side Wondow Inspection Covers (Panels !) When removed, you can lift the Box with its Recess. Get it !?! And or take the Back Panel off and use that Under Ledge to Hold on to also using that Front inverted V Flow Symbol (Front) Handle. Not obvious until you see Flow TH-cam Videos by Cedar Anderson. Hope this helps. 😎 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Happy Beekeeping 2023 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Yes, I mentioned that I figured it out toward the end of the video. For $1,000 it's too bad I have to study other people's video just to know how to operate a hive. For a couple hundred dollars, okay.
I was surprised to see you add the flow super along with the new unestablished colony. The advice I have seen has said to start it like a standard langstroth, and add the super once they are strong and a flow is starting. Otherwise, those 7 frames are a massive SHB condo. I would try putting the flow super on top of any existing strong colony. My first year colony just ignored the flow frames, but the beetles loved it.
as a flow hive veteran, who bought the Chinese knock off during covid because Australia stopped all exports, I found this system to be superior to standard Langstroth hives. My assembly was easy, 2-3 hours start to finish, mine has a window on the flow side of the hive so the bees cannot get out. I paid $229 for mine and other than not understanding bees on my first year, I bought 10 deep frames to make brood frames in the lower unit instead of having the bees try and comb the entire lower section out. This year I will be adding my long Langstroth hive to the yard because both the flow hive and standard hives require lifting tops off of bottoms and stacking stuff up which is the worst part of keeping bees, Love your channel and I have learned a ton from your videos.
First off, I’d like to say I love all your videos. And watch them all the time. This video kind of bugged me a bit though. I have a flow hive on top of my brood boxes, and chose to go in this route for harvesting purposes. I really have never been under the impression while watching the flow hive videos or reading their beekeeping content, that the bee keeping is hands off and you don’t have to care for your bees. I inspect my boxes frequently, and provide all the necessary treatment, and additional care for my bees as well as follow your feeding methods (thank you btw… my bees love you for it). I do hate the insinuation that flow hives create lazy beekeepers or allow bad bee parents to bee keep. The beekeeping and maintenance is the exact same. The harvest is what’s different. And for small back yard bee operations, the ability to harvest small amounts at a time without the huge mess each time is what enticed me to purchase the flow hive super.
My first hive was a classic flow hive. Then, I saved money and bought some decent Langstroth hives. However, harvesting from the Langstroth is a PITA in comparison to the flow hive. The flow hive enables one to empty the entire super to bottles in about 45mins if the weather is warm. Processing 10 frames of honey from a Langstroth takes me hours, and is messy, with a lot of cleaning up to do. A LOT of cleaning up and processing of the empty frames. I've finally settled to a system of langstroth brood boxes with flow hive supers on top. It's a bit less expensive than complete flow hive setups, and it's easy peasy to harvest from. Plus, you have the joy of spying on the bees when they're working. It's not particularly cost effective, but for a backyard hobby for someone who hates mess and wants to harvest efficiently, it's a pleasure to use.
I have a flow hive and am waiting for my first nuc to be ready to collect. I’ve already thought that if it’s a success, I might do the same as you, use the flow hive supers with the traditional hive, I couldn’t afford to buy another full flow hive.🇬🇧
Last year I didn’t get much interest by the bees to the flow frames even though I added extra wax. This year I started two new hives and not only waxed the frames but drizzled my bees honey and smeared it with my hands. They are over the frames. I added metal screen door thin handles to the sides of the flow box above the windows . Make sure you put the roof on before adding the handles to clear the roof sides. I also added a super above the flow frames on one hive to see if this has any effect on them filling it. When removing the honey tilt your hive slightly forward a few degrees with the adjustable legs then back after your finished to avoid wacky comb in broad box. Hope this helps.
I’m new to bee keeping. I bought a flow hive and love it. The assembly wasn’t difficult thanks to an electric drill and the watching the assembly videos on TH-cam were excellent!!
Great video David. I have a Flow Hive, and think it is gorgeous. I love it. I find it cumbersome to work, and only use mine for show. I can get everything done faster and cheaper with traditional hives and equipment. It would be difficult IMO to work a Flow hive when you're trying to fill drums or buckets with honey, collect and process the wax from cappings, and the unit cost is way too high if you are trying to sideline. I also want a controlled environment for bottling honey that will be sold for people to consume - not outside in the elements. That being said, my Flow hive is still the center piece of my bee yard and I'm glad I have it.
This was the first Bee Hive I ever purchased and seen up close for that matter. If anyone has ever assembled a model car, you can assemble this hive, it took me 2 hours in my living room, except for the finish (paint/varnish). Along with some of the other comments, remove the extraction door for a handle on that side. Side windows too. When you put the tube in, the tab goes down, to block the leak-back hole. I painted the ridge on the caps (top & bottom) just in case I dropped one. (easier to see) Four years now and I still love them. I also have other hives as well.
One tip for the flow supers is to wax dip them at the beginning to encourage the bees up. Some people find the bees reticent to go on to the plastic flow supers without wax dipping them. When you come to draining honey it is better to use an extension pipe and a sealed lid at the other end to prevent other insects and robbing behaviour.
Hi David the extra handle is the door that you take off to get to the flow frames. If you take the door/ shelf off, that's your handle. Also when you want to gather the honey from the flow frames. When you put the key in the bottom of the slot don't put it all the way in and turn it. Put it in a 3rd of the way turn it wait a little then do it again then all the way. Also with the movement of the frames in the front, if you adjust the screw at the back of the flow hive, that will stop the movement. I have a complete flow hive 2 plus. I also have Langstroth hives. I ordered the flow hive super only to go on my Langstroth. So I can use the 2 methods. I am only one year into Beekeeping. I didn't get any honey last year as I did 2 splits from the one hive so that that would not swarm. So I sacrificed getting honey as the hives were not strong. This year I will get honey. I am from Melbourne Australia and it's our winter now.
At around 11:24 you talk about a lot of wiggle in the flow frame. On the inside against the wall there should be a screw. You can tighten and loosen to take out that wiggle if I remember correctly.
Glad to see you have integrity and not taking a freebee. My first hives were Flowhives. I bought two Flowhives. It was a mistake for me to start with these hives. Mostly the cost was too much for what I got. I had the flowhive super on last year and the bees barley looked at it. Put it on this year and the bees are working on it some. I had added bees wax to the frame last year. My cedar Flowhive split on a seam on both ends where the narrower cedar boards were glued together. Lastly the Flowhive is a bit smaller in dimensions than the standard Langstroth hive. So when combining boxes the standard hive is slightly bigger by about a 1/2 inch.
I ALMOST bought a flow hive 2+ then realised I can get every piece of gear I need for 2 full depth, 10 frame Langstroth hives with 4 boxes each complete with a fancy base, feeder, queen excluder, escape board, inner cover, outer roof and all 80 wired frames with foundation . On top of that I bought a bee suit, smoker, electric embedder, hive tool, brush, queen clip, marker and a T-shirt that says "I'm a keeper" with a picture of a bee. All of that was still quite a bit cheaper than the flow hive 2+ with shipping.
I've 'uncapped' and used an extractor before. It was a real pain in the a**! I have helped a friend with his flow hive and that is what sold me on purchasing a dozen flow hives. Nothing is perfect, but their design for extracting the honey - the first real change in beekeeping in years - is worth the price.
If you want handles why not simply install kitchen dewar pull handles where you want them to be for your comfort in lifting and carrying the sections of the hive. Also what would be wrong with inspecting the lower box just after harvesting the honey from the top box
The biggest issue was I was trying hard trying not to crack the wood and many of the pre-drilled holes showing you where things went failed to get pre-drilled.
overall a fair review, when lifting your flow super just take off the back to have a second handle, i have 5, 10 frame brood,, flow hive 2+ which come with the built in spirit level, if there's one thing i don't like about the flow híve it is the gabled roof, it looks lovely yes, but not so practical, so i bought some multipurpose crown boards and nice flat tin roofs for mine. never forget the quality of the honey you get from a flow hive, they way i explain it to people is, it's all the benefits of comb honey but without a mouthful of wax, since there's no oxidisation of the honey from going through a centrifuge.
Beekeeping is the same for the flow hive as normal. Only the honey extraction is different. I have two flow hives and love them. Extraction is so much fun and so simple. I have 4 standard Langstroth hives and extracting is messy and a bit of a pain. You take the back off the super to create the second handle.
David, great unbiased video...! I think I'm getting one of these, not only for the Flow deal but the quality and other extra features. Regarding the handles, I'm surprised no one suggested ADDING them, you can buy many type of quality handles to attach on the sides! The wood panels appear to be thick enough for the handle screws (have not seen one personally)
Wow, lot of assumptions in this video David😮. Ive been following you for three years and using flow hives since the beginning. Your flow frames were lose becuase the bees hadnt sealed them together yet. The play that "made you fell like something was going to break" goes away when bees are in it. Also the assembly was a little bit of a pain but took around 3 hrs for my first one. Next time hit it with your purse. The the window slots on the sides do act as handles. The hives are easy to maintain and have a nice bottom board assembly. Just like everything else theses hives are a tool in a toolbox. They arent for everyone, but at least give them a fair shake for what they are.
Apart from the Flow Frames in the super, you get a much better base than with a basic Langstroth. You don't need additional space to store and use an extractor and you also avoid the sticky mess and laborious clean up of/after extraction. I think this is the main reason it appeals to hobbiest and/or suburban bee keepers that want only 1-3 hives. And yes, you worked it out - remove the super window covers (including the rear harvest window cover) and, hey presto, you have handles 😁
You certainly could screw on a chunk of wood on either side of the long ends to use as handles. At that point you’re modifying it but it might make it easier to use for your particular needs.
@@beek Hey I’m not in favor of the stupid flow hive by any stretch. But seeing as how you’ve already bought the thing… You might as well save yourself some backache and pain and improve upon this worthless over priced hunk of junk.. Necessity is the mother of invention. So apply some ingenuity to this less than ideal train wreck and just screw on a couple handles. Who knows… You might actually help somebody who’s got the same issue because they didn’t think before they bought themselves a flow hive. Like I said before. “a hands off hive is a recipe for failure.” You wanted some suggestions. So I gave you one. Take it or leave it. I can almost care less. I would never spend $1000 on a flow hive when clearly I could just make many numerous Langstroth style hives for the smallest fraction of that cost. That kind of money could be spent better elsewhere tackling real necessities rather than just half heartedly playing around with some honey and toying with the thought of having any bees. A flow hive is not for a beekeeper… But rather is for a “bee-haver”. No keeping required…. or possible for that matter. So to answer your question - NO….. for $1000 you “GET” to screw some handles on it. You’re welcome
Thanks David, watching this video and reading all the different opinions given, only makes me have more questions. I was a prototype first article design person under our engineer, and I know how to see problems and problem-solve them. This hive system gives me a lot of questions. Have fun though and I am waiting for the end product.👍
As I recall, and the way I do it, is to remove the wooden cover that covers the 7 flow frames … you now have a place to hold the honey box … you then can carry the flow box, the longest part against one’s body.
Great video! I’m amazed with how much content you produce! As others have mentioned it seems like you could just put the flow super on top of a traditional langstroth hive and save hundreds.
That was 23 minutes well spend. Appreciate feedback from a expiernced beekeeper on the flowhive. I wonder if the flowhive can be extended with extra super or brood box?
I purchased a Flow Hive during their Scratch and Dent sale, saving $200 on a cedar wood hive. Wood had a few chips and scratches but It's built and looks awesome. This is my first year as a new beekeeper so I am waiting until next year to set up a colony in the Flow Hive. Will be watching how things go for you.
One thing I failed to say is I refused to use the flow hive frames without foundation, only a thin starter piece of wood. I know what can happen! Bees can build comb sideway. I'm like, NO WAY am I giving that a possibility.
I’m not a beekeeper (yet), but I am hoping to keep bees someday. I’ve been doing a lot of research and learning a lot. I feel like the Flow Hive has all the hallmarks of a first generation, first version, product. Lots of complicated pieces and a weird process. Feels like a a second version could refine the rough spots and simplify.
My bee mentor didn't like that I was putting empty non drawn out comb in my bottom brood box when. I transferred my nucs into the hive. I saw that you add about 3 new frames so I did that same. Is it just time consuming or take too long for them to build it up? I need them to build more frames. I'd love your opinion !
I found the assembly difficult but with the help of videos on u tube I managed it and I’m a sixty plus year old woman not used to putting things together. 🇬🇧
we do not have the room for honey extractor etc gear at home, so flow hive was logical choice for us, no way I am not looking after the bees, people should not have pets they do not care for, bees are no different. Learnt a whole lot from your video thank you, and the kind people in the comments
One thing to be learnt if the crimps that secure the wires that hold the polyprop flow frames together are aluminium they will dissolve i a caustic sloution when cleaning. Are the crimps that join the stainless wires aluminium of the 'genuine flow hive? The chinese 'copies are ali. They can be replaced with electirical 5amp brass connectors but the wires are too short to reuse. We love our flow hive not least to see if the bees go into the flow frames as good as they did the first year 2022? Baited with a bit of wax and a spot or two of honey.
I do agree with it being an expensive piece of equipment, but I think it's a well thought out system for newbies like me that only want to handle two hives or so. The screws are specialty ones that drill the hole themselves, so it shouldn't have been necessary to pre-drill. At least I didn't have any issues with them so far. You've probably figured most things out yourself by now, but the flow frames don't split in the middle, they split the cells vertically to form a channel. The top plugs can't be inserted if the cells are not in the closed position. The tubes have a little notch that can help opening the round plugs (or just use the lever) and the notch opens a small hole for the rest of the honey to drop back into the hive. That hole is usually glued shut by the bees as often are the small gaps between the front of the flow frames. If the flow frames break for some reason, it's a tedious task, but you can put them back together. Flow has a video on that topic. All the windows and openings are designed in a way to be used as handles. I do like features like the "table" or that you can use the same parts to hang the frames on the sides. The ant guards are a nice addition too. The ventilation cover is a nice touch, as is the entrance reducer / closing thingie. While these details are not in the manual, you can find a lot of it in the FAQ and support videos from Flow. I'm undecided whether they should provide all this in the manual already or keep it short to not overwhelm newbies with extra information while building the hive.
I just remembered another bonus: You can easily harvest individual frames, resulting in different types of honey from different seasons not being mixed. You can also open only a small part of the frame to test the honey for water content in advance.
For me the benefit of the flow hive is that it eliminates the whole fuss, kerfuffle and mess of extraction. (Bear in mind also the cost of an extractor, the need for a deep freeze, a clean room and pest proof frame storage if your space is limited). Second, I always spend a few minutes contemplative time assessing bee behaviour before opening up for a detailed inspection and the windows facilitate that. Also I can let my grandchildren see bee activity without disturbing the colony.
Hi Rusty, in my video I said it took me a month because I only had 10 minutes here and there. But fair enough, there is NO WAY I could have built all of that in 30 minutes. All the deep frames had to be assembled, and several screws stripped out and some of the pre-drilled holes were not pre drilled. Good for you for building this thing in 30 minutes. Amazing!!!!!
I'm just learning about bee keeping now. But I can see the problem the Flow Hive is creating for bee keeping. I originally got interested in bee keeping from watching a Flow Hive youtube. It puts front and center the idea that you can just turn a key and have honey flow out. That's powerful advertising, but it brings a lot of people into bee keeping that just think they can order this hive, put some bees in and then wait to turn the key at some point. I started watching Just Alex's youtube " What is Bee Keeping and How To Get Started?" where he is starting from one beehive using the straight 100% Langstrom method and eventually harvests in his second year and eventually has two hives. What watching Alex reveals that there are three major things that can prevent you from ever harvesting honey: 1.) Your hive not surviving the winter. (There are things you must do to prevent the hive from dying during winter), 2.) mites and other parasites killing your hive. 3.) new queens hatching , which cause a swarm to develop that can fl y away with half your hive and a lot of the honey it made. To prevent any one of those things from happening, you have to constantly take your frames out of the hive and look at them carefully to see what the problem is and fix it. Alex went on a months vacation away from his hive at one point and half his hive swarmed away. One Flow Hive ad said you should inspect your hive twice a year. Ha! No, Alex shows its more like once a week. But the really bad part is not attending to the mites and parasites every week. Because you own bees interact with other hives out there they transfer their infections to other hives and this makes things harder for bee keepers that really know what they are doing. The one thing you must not do as a newbie is do something that will damage the work of other bee keepers in your area. Now Flow Hive now has a video series that has talk about dealing with parasites, so that is better. But it still leads with "just turn the key and let it flow" advertising. And lets face it, non-Flow Hive harvesting is a pretty sticky and messy looking thing that looks suspiciously like hard work. I'm thinking the difficulty in assembling the Flow Hives will probably discourage people who are coming in for easy honey.
It not a bad ideas nor product! But as first year beekeeper? I personally glad for I have old fashioned 10 frame hive! Maybe a few year from now I get a flow hive after a top bar ❤
I'd strongly suggest a newbie start with a traditional langstroth to learn the full art of beekeeping then add other hive types after gaining bee experience...just my opinion of course.
David, you take the cover off the back, the shelf piece and you have a handle to lift the super. Also after the bees are in the super they will stiffen up the flow frames. You need to give the flow hive system more time before making some of your comments. David. Brisbane Australia.
Good review so far. Would like to see your thoughts when you actually extract. I have never had a flowhive and the price point alone makes it a difficult pill to even try. I agree with your initial assessment though... especially in enabling/encouraging new beekeepers to not inspect their brood chambers. Its such an intimidating event for many new folks anyways. Still appreciate your time in making great content for our community!
I wonder how the flow hive would over winter in Michigan. Also do you remove all of the honey? Where do the bee's store their winter store of honey? Thanks for sharing
I appreciate your review but I just don't agree. Yes the price is high but understand that you are also getting a high quality hive stand, a screened bottom board and a "beetle/varroa" tray. Also you don't need an extractor (still the price is high). The wooden ware is furniture quality. The assembly was easy and I could do it with just the tools they provided (you didn't mention those). I think you really need to re-read the instructions and watch a video or two from flow hive, most of your questions would have been answered. Lastly you're setting yourself up for failure by putting the flow super on before the colony has built up. All that said I do appreciate the review but it does promote some of the misconceptions already out there.
Seriously David? I'm a first time beekeeper and have assembled two Flow Hives, looking to buy a third. It's really easy if you just follow the instructions one step at a time Assembly is part of the fun. I don't want the hassle of harvesting s langstroth, I love the simplicity of harvesting. I've harvested honey twice so fast and I'm coming up to 12 months in November. My grandchildren love looking through the windows in the super Flow Hive is for the hobbyist, but no good for a commercial beekeeper BTW. each of the Flow Frames holds about 3.5 Kg of honey. If you put the frames in properly, the bees don't get out I pop some frames out when I inspect the brood to lighten the weight of the super because I'm not as young as I used to be Lifting the super is easy, one hand in the handle home and one under the edge. I rooting with adding a couple of metal handles which won't be s problem because i don't need to stack supers when not in use Flow Hive do instructional love streams every Wednesday (Australian time) Excuse me, in going to pause the video and go out to inspect my girls 🐝😂 When i put my super on, i rubbed soft wax on the frames then sprayed with sugar water. The girls went straight in and got to work
i will make a lot of questions ... between upper and lower hive shouldnt be / exist a locking (somewhere...) ? i see that they can be separated easily or fall out of a strong wind ...
I've heard of a LOT of people having flow hives have trouble, problems, etc. Keep it up Dave, you are nice and awesome. Especially like that you are] honest in what you tell people.
I didn't read all the comments, but I did hear one time of a guys mistake with a flow hive, they must have forgot to put the queen excluder on and she ended up laying in the flow frames. That was the end of that. Couldn't clean them out after that.
We spent three days of paced, fun construction, not three weeks. And... some people don't want three hives, so they're happy to pay for the flow hive. So it needs to be kept in perspective for who may or may not want it. They are the right hive for the right people. Flow Hive give great support to their customers and create excellent videos. Fair enough about the handle. :) I was concerned that you mentioned that maybe the manual might have mentioned something you missed. I think it's better manners to have read the manual and also have a fully producing flow hive prior to critiquing it. Just my thoughts.
Sorry this video missed the mark with you.😢 I'll try to do better. To be fair, I did say in the video many of the things you mentioned and I also mentioned that it took me longer to build because I didn't have time to dedicate none stop time, I just had to work on it as I had free time here and there.
I am a new beekeeper and faithfully do my inspections and took the Flow Hive beekeeper classes. I don't think that was a fair assessment to say that we do not take care of our bees.
thanks! I'm no beekeper, just a curious viewer. How about just buying the frames, then customizing a regular cheap box to host them? It'd save half of the money and you'd get all the details the way you want them. It was hard to assemble anyways, so ... Would you recommend that?
Where I come from stainless steel is a nickel alloy which IS magnetic. Is it possible that your flow hive came with aluminum screws and that’s why it wasn’t magnetic?
Do they include a red flashlight so you can harvest at night without getting the jars half full of bees? Last summer our club did an extraction day. we were a mile from the Apiary and still there were so many bees we had a 30 gallon trash can covered with them and that doesn't include the ones we had to filter out of the honey before someone had the presence of mind to cover the extractors with cloth to keep the bees out of them.
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Our first hive as new beekeepers was the flow hive. We love it, and the assembly as new beekeepers did not seem to be that bad. We actually enjoyed the process of building it and what it looked like when we were done. We remove the window covers when lifting for inspections. We have had the flow hive for three seasons now and it has been very manageable and a fun process for us.
Awesome, I'm hoping for the same warm feeling as I become more use to it. Thanks for sharing
I have kept bees in langstroth equipment for about 10+ yrs and purchased a Flow hive in 2021. It was so much fun! I put it together in about 2 hrs one evening. I too have criticisms such as handles on super etc. however harvesting is so much fun! The main thing is it is fantastic to engage people who are otherwise petrified of bees or simply have no idea what happens inside of a hive.
I’ve had my flow hives since 2019. I love the flow hive. You won’t see anywhere where they claim no maintenance or hands off. You have to manage like any other hive. Assembly was easy, not sure I remember any issues but it was a while ago. My biggest issue was the weight when inspecting the bottom box but I have that issue with a 10 frame box now that I’ve gotten older. I moved my frames to horizontal hive that I made with cut outs for the flow frames. It’s a game changer for me. I have access to all frames just by lifting the lid. Mite treatment and hive inspection is much easier. Only have one year on it so how well it works is still to be determined but management is much easier. Thumbs up for Flow Hive
Good to know David
Being a Toolmaker for 50 years, retired. I am not a beekeeper either. But I see a well thought out design. This is an advance in beekeeping. I'm 76, so I would never be a beekeeper. But so many years spent in R&D . I see a well thought out design. It covers
Features in functionality no one has thought of. Lots of parts to assemble, that's life. But it's all good. My applause to these two inventors. Well done.
I bought my hybrid flow hive in 2020, I love it! I assembled it in less than a hour. I melted wax on the plastic frames and the bees went to work filling the frames. If you get one several things, 1. only put the key in a 1/4 of the way in and turn it slowly, let the honey to flow into the jar, as it slows push the key in 1/2 way, turn the key slowly allowing the honey to flow, then 3/4 of the way, then all the way in. Dont turn the whole thing once once or you'll have honey dripping on bees. Take your time, allowing it to all drain out before closing the frames. The bees will clean it up and start filling again. I love to, the honey is clean, I allow it to sit allowing anything to float to the top to spoon out.
If you assembled it in less than an hour you didn't buy what I bought. I spent an hour trying to figure where to place the windows because the "pre-drilled" window holes were NOT predrilled, nor were the holes where the slanted rails go, so I had to guess at the angle. Less than an hour!! You must be a master carpenter!!! Mind blown!! Good for you man.
I have a Flow Hive works ok. I found not to open all at once, I do it in 1/2s, if you open all the once it will overflow and run into box below. Workes better the second time its used. Also, paint all the caps red so if dropped in grass they are easy to find. Great video, David!
Good tips
8 years into my 2 flow hives and going strong. David, I'm hoping better days ahead for you once all things settle, I wouldn't put the flow on until good numbers in the brood but a good idea to put some wax around the flow frames to enable the bees to close up the cells to begin the storing of honey. Wishing you well and please ... give it time! 🐝
Will do
Hint for removing the plugs and tabs is to use a pair of long nose pliers. Also only open the flow frame in small stages 1/4 at a time until the whole frame is open. Using two rods is open the frame is considerably easier. Remove the back panel on the super to produce a handle. I have rarely been able to lift a full super for inspections which is a real pain, but that is the point, you should never have to lift it full is should be emptied regularly, frame at a time.
How can you empty it regular. You still have to be sure the moisture level is 18%/capped over and it I'm waiting for it to dry out, I still have to inspect every 2 weeks.
@@beek True, but we have found that when the frames are filled so that the ends windows are full usually means that the frame is full and capped. We usually empty two frames at a time, and by the time they repair and attempt restoring the honey in these frames, two other frames are full. Lifting a full 7 frame super for inspection is possible but why you’d try to if they can be emptied so easily. The original flow hive is actually based on an 8 frame brood box with its 6 frame supper easier to manage and lift. Maybe 7 frame super is just too big.
Took me a little over an hour to assemble and this is my first hive ever. The instructions were super easy to understand for me. My hive is thriving and the handles work great for me. The honey frames hols a LOT of honey, more than a regular deep box. To inspect the honey frames you can pull them like a regular frame, you don't have to just use the windows. Since this hive I have also got a second old school hive and I enjoy it also. Assembly tip, lay out all the parts...
I have the flow hive and like it very much.
Good to hear George! Everyone has a different taste.
The instructions were some of the best I've ever used. This is one of the best designed and made piece of equipment ever. Everything fit together perfectly! I love it!
Having kept bees for over 40 years, I now have a flow hive in the garden. The best thing about it is, after extracting and bottling I don't have to clean up the knives, uncapping tank, extractor, bottling bucket and the floor. the entire cleanup is done "inhouse" by the bees.
David, when you retire to a smaller property with "beekepers back" and arthritis. The flow hive will be the hive to keep.
I really enjoy your videos. The effort put into production makes such a great difference. Funny how you keep learning new things.
I get it!
You should add wax to your flow frames. Ask Frederick Dunn on tips. He has flow hives.
Seems like for $1,000 new beginners shouldn't have to scourer the internet to figure out things. Thanks for the tips though.
For a backyard beekeeper, this is so much easier when it comes to harvesting the honey.
David, there are screws in the back of the flowhive frames on top where you can bring the screws out more to bring frames forward and tighter. Also when using the flow key put ikey in part way and turn at a time. Like 1/3 of the way in at a time.
My tops are tight as I stated in the video but not the bottoms of the frames.
Take the super off. Its way too much space until the brood is full.
Removing the super you have 2 easy options. Front to rear. One hand grip and use the harvest door lock (wood strap) the 2nd the window shutters left to right just use the brass knobs as handle.
Set the harvesting 3° to the rear elevation now, its a bit harder to do when its full of bees and honey.
I've flow hives as well as traditional and for a backyard beekeeper Flow Hives are great.
Yes, I figured that out toward the end of the video and I mentioned also in the video you have to angle it to drain properly
I am a new beekeeper and chose the Flow Hive because I want utilize their extraction process. However, everything else is exactly the same as a classic Langstroth experience. You must do inspections, you must check for and control mites, you must feed them at appropriate times, provide a water source in your apiary, prevent swarming, prevent the queen entering the super (when the super is added), etc. This includes putting on the Super when the appropriate conditions are met. So other than the extraction process, you are a still a beekeeper facing the same challenges as every other beekeeper. With a ton of videos available online, the Flow community removes a lot of guess work and tightens the beekeeping Flow workflow for newbies and experienced beekeepers alike.
PS. David.
YES...The Super does have Handles ! Its called taking out the Side Wondow Inspection Covers (Panels !) When removed, you can lift the Box with its Recess.
Get it !?! And or take the Back Panel off and use that Under Ledge to Hold on to also using that Front inverted V Flow Symbol (Front) Handle.
Not obvious until you see Flow TH-cam Videos by Cedar Anderson.
Hope this helps. 😎
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Happy Beekeeping 2023
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Yes, I mentioned that I figured it out toward the end of the video. For $1,000 it's too bad I have to study other people's video just to know how to operate a hive. For a couple hundred dollars, okay.
I was surprised to see you add the flow super along with the new unestablished colony. The advice I have seen has said to start it like a standard langstroth, and add the super once they are strong and a flow is starting. Otherwise, those 7 frames are a massive SHB condo. I would try putting the flow super on top of any existing strong colony. My first year colony just ignored the flow frames, but the beetles loved it.
Says the flow hive rep. Do you realize there are commercial beekeepers on these threads? And the flow hives are a gimmick?
as a flow hive veteran, who bought the Chinese knock off during covid because Australia stopped all exports, I found this system to be superior to standard Langstroth hives. My assembly was easy, 2-3 hours start to finish, mine has a window on the flow side of the hive so the bees cannot get out. I paid $229 for mine and other than not understanding bees on my first year, I bought 10 deep frames to make brood frames in the lower unit instead of having the bees try and comb the entire lower section out. This year I will be adding my long Langstroth hive to the yard because both the flow hive and standard hives require lifting tops off of bottoms and stacking stuff up which is the worst part of keeping bees, Love your channel and I have learned a ton from your videos.
First off, I’d like to say I love all your videos. And watch them all the time. This video kind of bugged me a bit though. I have a flow hive on top of my brood boxes, and chose to go in this route for harvesting purposes. I really have never been under the impression while watching the flow hive videos or reading their beekeeping content, that the bee keeping is hands off and you don’t have to care for your bees. I inspect my boxes frequently, and provide all the necessary treatment, and additional care for my bees as well as follow your feeding methods (thank you btw… my bees love you for it). I do hate the insinuation that flow hives create lazy beekeepers or allow bad bee parents to bee keep. The beekeeping and maintenance is the exact same. The harvest is what’s different. And for small back yard bee operations, the ability to harvest small amounts at a time without the huge mess each time is what enticed me to purchase the flow hive super.
My first hive was a classic flow hive. Then, I saved money and bought some decent Langstroth hives. However, harvesting from the Langstroth is a PITA in comparison to the flow hive. The flow hive enables one to empty the entire super to bottles in about 45mins if the weather is warm. Processing 10 frames of honey from a Langstroth takes me hours, and is messy, with a lot of cleaning up to do. A LOT of cleaning up and processing of the empty frames. I've finally settled to a system of langstroth brood boxes with flow hive supers on top. It's a bit less expensive than complete flow hive setups, and it's easy peasy to harvest from. Plus, you have the joy of spying on the bees when they're working. It's not particularly cost effective, but for a backyard hobby for someone who hates mess and wants to harvest efficiently, it's a pleasure to use.
I have a flow hive and am waiting for my first nuc to be ready to collect. I’ve already thought that if it’s a success, I might do the same as you, use the flow hive supers with the traditional hive, I couldn’t afford to buy another full flow hive.🇬🇧
I actually bought the entire flow hive, bottom deep and the super from the company. But looking back, just buying the super is all you really need.
Last year I didn’t get much interest by the bees to the flow frames even though I added extra wax. This year I started two new hives and not only waxed the frames but drizzled my bees honey and smeared it with my hands. They are over the frames. I added metal screen door thin handles to the sides of the flow box above the windows . Make sure you put the roof on before adding the handles to clear the roof sides. I also added a super above the flow frames on one hive to see if this has any effect on them filling it. When removing the honey tilt your hive slightly forward a few degrees with the adjustable legs then back after your finished to avoid wacky comb in broad box. Hope this helps.
I’m new to bee keeping. I bought a flow hive and love it. The assembly wasn’t difficult thanks to an electric drill and the watching the assembly videos on TH-cam were excellent!!
Nice work!
will watch the video as we put ours together thank you!
Great video David. I have a Flow Hive, and think it is gorgeous. I love it. I find it cumbersome to work, and only use mine for show. I can get everything done faster and cheaper with traditional hives and equipment. It would be difficult IMO to work a Flow hive when you're trying to fill drums or buckets with honey, collect and process the wax from cappings, and the unit cost is way too high if you are trying to sideline. I also want a controlled environment for bottling honey that will be sold for people to consume - not outside in the elements. That being said, my Flow hive is still the center piece of my bee yard and I'm glad I have it.
Good to know Tom
This was the first Bee Hive I ever purchased and seen up close for that matter. If anyone has ever assembled a model car, you can assemble this hive, it took me 2 hours in my living room, except for the finish (paint/varnish). Along with some of the other comments, remove the extraction door for a handle on that side. Side windows too. When you put the tube in, the tab goes down, to block the leak-back hole. I painted the ridge on the caps (top & bottom) just in case I dropped one. (easier to see) Four years now and I still love them. I also have other hives as well.
The main difference between a flow hive and Langstroth is the harvesting. You still pull the frames and inspect them, just like a Langstroth.
True
One tip for the flow supers is to wax dip them at the beginning to encourage the bees up. Some people find the bees reticent to go on to the plastic flow supers without wax dipping them. When you come to draining honey it is better to use an extension pipe and a sealed lid at the other end to prevent other insects and robbing behaviour.
Hi David the extra handle is the door that you take off to get to the flow frames. If you take the door/ shelf off, that's your handle. Also when you want to gather the honey from the flow frames. When you put the key in the bottom of the slot don't put it all the way in and turn it. Put it in a 3rd of the way turn it wait a little then do it again then all the way. Also with the movement of the frames in the front, if you adjust the screw at the back of the flow hive, that will stop the movement. I have a complete flow hive 2 plus. I also have Langstroth hives. I ordered the flow hive super only to go on my Langstroth. So I can use the 2 methods. I am only one year into Beekeeping. I didn't get any honey last year as I did 2 splits from the one hive so that that would not swarm. So I sacrificed getting honey as the hives were not strong. This year I will get honey. I am from Melbourne Australia and it's our winter now.
Each flow super gives unique flavor.
Thanks for reviewing the flow hive. We are new beekeepers and inherited a flow hive. Hard to find flow hive advice so far.
Thanks Jennifer
At around 11:24 you talk about a lot of wiggle in the flow frame. On the inside against the wall there should be a screw. You can tighten and loosen to take out that wiggle if I remember correctly.
Nope, only at the top
Glad to see you have integrity and not taking a freebee. My first hives were Flowhives. I bought two Flowhives. It was a mistake for me to start with these hives. Mostly the cost was too much for what I got. I had the flowhive super on last year and the bees barley looked at it. Put it on this year and the bees are working on it some. I had added bees wax to the frame last year. My cedar Flowhive split on a seam on both ends where the narrower cedar boards were glued together. Lastly the Flowhive is a bit smaller in dimensions than the standard Langstroth hive. So when combining boxes the standard hive is slightly bigger by about a 1/2 inch.
I noticed my regular frames were tight in the deep
I ALMOST bought a flow hive 2+ then realised I can get every piece of gear I need for 2 full depth, 10 frame Langstroth hives with 4 boxes each complete with a fancy base, feeder, queen excluder, escape board, inner cover, outer roof and all 80 wired frames with foundation . On top of that I bought a bee suit, smoker, electric embedder, hive tool, brush, queen clip, marker and a T-shirt that says "I'm a keeper" with a picture of a bee. All of that was still quite a bit cheaper than the flow hive 2+ with shipping.
Great video. Thanks David I love watching your videos keep up the awesome work
Thanks Tim
I've 'uncapped' and used an extractor before. It was a real pain in the a**! I have helped a friend with his flow hive and that is what sold me on purchasing a dozen flow hives. Nothing is perfect, but their design for extracting the honey - the first real change in beekeeping in years - is worth the price.
If you want handles why not simply install kitchen dewar pull handles where you want them to be for your comfort in lifting and carrying the sections of the hive. Also what would be wrong with inspecting the lower box just after harvesting the honey from the top box
Assembly seems like part of the fun, part of the journey. Getting to know what goes where & what does what. Cheers.
Sounds to me you was over thinking it when putting it together
The biggest issue was I was trying hard trying not to crack the wood and many of the pre-drilled holes showing you where things went failed to get pre-drilled.
overall a fair review, when lifting your flow super just take off the back to have a second handle, i have 5, 10 frame brood,, flow hive 2+ which come with the built in spirit level, if there's one thing i don't like about the flow híve it is the gabled roof, it looks lovely yes, but not so practical, so i bought some multipurpose crown boards and nice flat tin roofs for mine. never forget the quality of the honey you get from a flow hive, they way i explain it to people is, it's all the benefits of comb honey but without a mouthful of wax, since there's no oxidisation of the honey from going through a centrifuge.
Iam so glad you got a flow hive. Flow has great vdo on operation.
Beekeeping is the same for the flow hive as normal. Only the honey extraction is different. I have two flow hives and love them. Extraction is so much fun and so simple. I have 4 standard Langstroth hives and extracting is messy and a bit of a pain. You take the back off the super to create the second handle.
David, great unbiased video...! I think I'm getting one of these, not only for the Flow deal but the quality and other extra features. Regarding the handles, I'm surprised no one suggested ADDING them, you can buy many type of quality handles to attach on the sides! The wood panels appear to be thick enough for the handle screws (have not seen one personally)
I’ve had fun with mine.
Wow, lot of assumptions in this video David😮. Ive been following you for three years and using flow hives since the beginning. Your flow frames were lose becuase the bees hadnt sealed them together yet. The play that "made you fell like something was going to break" goes away when bees are in it. Also the assembly was a little bit of a pain but took around 3 hrs for my first one. Next time hit it with your purse. The the window slots on the sides do act as handles. The hives are easy to maintain and have a nice bottom board assembly. Just like everything else theses hives are a tool in a toolbox. They arent for everyone, but at least give them a fair shake for what they are.
all good points
David flow hive says in one of their videos, when demonstrating lifting of the super, to take of the self, so as to create a handle
I figured that out toward the end of the video, but for $1000 I should need to search for videos for answers.
Apart from the Flow Frames in the super, you get a much better base than with a basic Langstroth. You don't need additional space to store and use an extractor and you also avoid the sticky mess and laborious clean up of/after extraction. I think this is the main reason it appeals to hobbiest and/or suburban bee keepers that want only 1-3 hives. And yes, you worked it out - remove the super window covers (including the rear harvest window cover) and, hey presto, you have handles 😁
You certainly could screw on a chunk of wood on either side of the long ends to use as handles. At that point you’re modifying it but it might make it easier to use for your particular needs.
But for over $1,000.00 I have to take a piece of junk wood and screw on a handle?
@@beek
Hey I’m not in favor of the stupid flow hive by any stretch. But seeing as how you’ve already bought the thing… You might as well save yourself some backache and pain and improve upon this worthless over priced hunk of junk..
Necessity is the mother of invention. So apply some ingenuity to this less than ideal train wreck and just screw on a couple handles. Who knows… You might actually help somebody who’s got the same issue because they didn’t think before they bought themselves a flow hive.
Like I said before.
“a hands off hive is a recipe for failure.”
You wanted some suggestions. So I gave you one. Take it or leave it. I can almost care less. I would never spend $1000 on a flow hive when clearly I could just make many numerous Langstroth style hives for the smallest fraction of that cost.
That kind of money could be spent better elsewhere tackling real necessities rather than just half heartedly playing around with some honey and toying with the thought of having any bees.
A flow hive is not for a beekeeper… But rather is for a “bee-haver”. No keeping required…. or possible for that matter.
So to answer your question - NO….. for $1000 you “GET” to screw some handles on it.
You’re welcome
Hey David did you put a green drone comb frame in the flow hive for mites?
Thanks David, watching this video and reading all the different opinions given, only makes me have more questions. I was a prototype first article design person under our engineer, and I know how to see problems and problem-solve them. This hive system gives me a lot of questions. Have fun though and I am waiting for the end product.👍
You bet
As I recall, and the way I do it, is to remove the wooden cover that covers the 7 flow frames … you now have a place to hold the honey box … you then can carry the flow box, the longest part against one’s body.
I put mine together in one day and it was easy
They say to take out the window coverings to use as the handles. Not 100% I don't have bees just watch a ton of bee videos.
Great video! I’m amazed with how much content you produce! As others have mentioned it seems like you could just put the flow super on top of a traditional langstroth hive and save hundreds.
Indeed
That was 23 minutes well spend. Appreciate feedback from a expiernced beekeeper on the flowhive. I wonder if the flowhive can be extended with extra super or brood box?
SO happy you did a show on this flow hive, it sounds so easy...BUT....
boy is that complicated
First I've seen of a Flow Hive. Another good video. Thanks
Thanks
I purchased a Flow Hive during their Scratch and Dent sale, saving $200 on a cedar wood hive. Wood had a few chips and scratches but It's built and looks awesome. This is my first year as a new beekeeper so I am waiting until next year to set up a colony in the Flow Hive. Will be watching how things go for you.
One thing I failed to say is I refused to use the flow hive frames without foundation, only a thin starter piece of wood. I know what can happen! Bees can build comb sideway. I'm like, NO WAY am I giving that a possibility.
I’m not a beekeeper (yet), but I am hoping to keep bees someday. I’ve been doing a lot of research and learning a lot. I feel like the Flow Hive has all the hallmarks of a first generation, first version, product. Lots of complicated pieces and a weird process.
Feels like a a second version could refine the rough spots and simplify.
My bee mentor didn't like that I was putting empty non drawn out comb in my bottom brood box when. I transferred my nucs into the hive. I saw that you add about 3 new frames so I did that same. Is it just time consuming or take too long for them to build it up? I need them to build more frames. I'd love your opinion !
I found the assembly difficult but with the help of videos on u tube I managed it and I’m a sixty plus year old woman not used to putting things together. 🇬🇧
Glad it was helpful. Come on, 60+ is not OLD!! 😃
@@beek 😂
we do not have the room for honey extractor etc gear at home, so flow hive was logical choice for us, no way I am not looking after the bees, people should not have pets they do not care for, bees are no different. Learnt a whole lot from your video thank you, and the kind people in the comments
Thanks for sharing
One thing to be learnt if the crimps that secure the wires that hold the polyprop flow frames together are aluminium they will dissolve i a caustic sloution when cleaning. Are the crimps that join the stainless wires aluminium of the 'genuine flow hive? The chinese 'copies are ali. They can be replaced with electirical 5amp brass connectors but the wires are too short to reuse.
We love our flow hive not least to see if the bees go into the flow frames as good as they did the first year 2022? Baited with a bit of wax and a spot or two of honey.
I do agree with it being an expensive piece of equipment, but I think it's a well thought out system for newbies like me that only want to handle two hives or so.
The screws are specialty ones that drill the hole themselves, so it shouldn't have been necessary to pre-drill. At least I didn't have any issues with them so far.
You've probably figured most things out yourself by now, but the flow frames don't split in the middle, they split the cells vertically to form a channel. The top plugs can't be inserted if the cells are not in the closed position.
The tubes have a little notch that can help opening the round plugs (or just use the lever) and the notch opens a small hole for the rest of the honey to drop back into the hive. That hole is usually glued shut by the bees as often are the small gaps between the front of the flow frames.
If the flow frames break for some reason, it's a tedious task, but you can put them back together. Flow has a video on that topic.
All the windows and openings are designed in a way to be used as handles.
I do like features like the "table" or that you can use the same parts to hang the frames on the sides. The ant guards are a nice addition too. The ventilation cover is a nice touch, as is the entrance reducer / closing thingie.
While these details are not in the manual, you can find a lot of it in the FAQ and support videos from Flow. I'm undecided whether they should provide all this in the manual already or keep it short to not overwhelm newbies with extra information while building the hive.
I just remembered another bonus: You can easily harvest individual frames, resulting in different types of honey from different seasons not being mixed. You can also open only a small part of the frame to test the honey for water content in advance.
For me the benefit of the flow hive is that it eliminates the whole fuss, kerfuffle and mess of extraction. (Bear in mind also the cost of an extractor, the need for a deep freeze, a clean room and pest proof frame storage if your space is limited). Second, I always spend a few minutes contemplative time assessing bee behaviour before opening up for a detailed inspection and the windows facilitate that. Also I can let my grandchildren see bee activity without disturbing the colony.
It took you a month 😂😂😂😂😂😂 took me one night like half hour ..
Hi Rusty, in my video I said it took me a month because I only had 10 minutes here and there. But fair enough, there is NO WAY I could have built all of that in 30 minutes. All the deep frames had to be assembled, and several screws stripped out and some of the pre-drilled holes were not pre drilled. Good for you for building this thing in 30 minutes. Amazing!!!!!
Building the roof on mine was the only issue I had, but I figured it out.
I'm just learning about bee keeping now. But I can see the problem the Flow Hive is creating for bee keeping. I originally got interested in bee keeping from watching a Flow Hive youtube. It puts front and center the idea that you can just turn a key and have honey flow out. That's powerful advertising, but it brings a lot of people into bee keeping that just think they can order this hive, put some bees in and then wait to turn the key at some point.
I started watching Just Alex's youtube " What is Bee Keeping and How To Get Started?" where he is starting from one beehive using the straight 100% Langstrom method and eventually harvests in his second year and eventually has two hives. What watching Alex reveals that there are three major things that can prevent you from ever harvesting honey: 1.) Your hive not surviving the winter. (There are things you must do to prevent the hive from dying during winter), 2.) mites and other parasites killing your hive. 3.) new queens hatching , which cause a swarm to develop that can fl y away with half your hive and a lot of the honey it made.
To prevent any one of those things from happening, you have to constantly take your frames out of the hive and look at them carefully to see what the problem is and fix it. Alex went on a months vacation away from his hive at one point and half his hive swarmed away. One Flow Hive ad said you should inspect your hive twice a year. Ha! No, Alex shows its more like once a week.
But the really bad part is not attending to the mites and parasites every week. Because you own bees interact with other hives out there they transfer their infections to other hives and this makes things harder for bee keepers that really know what they are doing. The one thing you must not do as a newbie is do something that will damage the work of other bee keepers in your area.
Now Flow Hive now has a video series that has talk about dealing with parasites, so that is better. But it still leads with "just turn the key and let it flow" advertising. And lets face it, non-Flow Hive harvesting is a pretty sticky and messy looking thing that looks suspiciously like hard work. I'm thinking the difficulty in assembling the Flow Hives will probably discourage people who are coming in for easy honey.
I wouldnt want one even if it was free. I too like the hands on process.
I think if remove that door/shelf at the front you could use that area as a handle.
It not a bad ideas nor product! But as first year beekeeper? I personally glad for I have old fashioned 10 frame hive! Maybe a few year from now I get a flow hive after a top bar ❤
I'd strongly suggest a newbie start with a traditional langstroth to learn the full art of beekeeping then add other hive types after gaining bee experience...just my opinion of course.
David, you take the cover off the back, the shelf piece and you have a handle to lift the super. Also after the bees are in the super they will stiffen up the flow frames.
You need to give the flow hive system more time before making some of your comments.
David. Brisbane Australia.
My comments at this point are based on first impressions so I will continue to share and hopefully it will be an improved experience.
As long as the colony is strong it’s awesome. I have three they join my layens, lazutin and traditional Lang’s.
Good to know Maggie
Good review so far. Would like to see your thoughts when you actually extract. I have never had a flowhive and the price point alone makes it a difficult pill to even try. I agree with your initial assessment though... especially in enabling/encouraging new beekeepers to not inspect their brood chambers. Its such an intimidating event for many new folks anyways. Still appreciate your time in making great content for our community!
Thanks
Most stainless steel is magnetic.
Only cheap stainless is magnetic. If it is magnetic it can rust.
Agreed, but, Well these weren't.
I wonder how the flow hive would over winter in Michigan. Also do you remove all of the honey? Where do the bee's store their winter store of honey? Thanks for sharing
All very good questions and I have so many more.
I appreciate your review but I just don't agree. Yes the price is high but understand that you are also getting a high quality hive stand, a screened bottom board and a "beetle/varroa" tray. Also you don't need an extractor (still the price is high). The wooden ware is furniture quality. The assembly was easy and I could do it with just the tools they provided (you didn't mention those). I think you really need to re-read the instructions and watch a video or two from flow hive, most of your questions would have been answered. Lastly you're setting yourself up for failure by putting the flow super on before the colony has built up. All that said I do appreciate the review but it does promote some of the misconceptions already out there.
Good point Larry. Again, it's too bad I have to search around and find specific videos when the manual couldn't be enough.
We didn't pay nearly that much for the hive plus an extra brood box, but we waited until it was on sale.
Me slapping my forehead
Have u harvested honey from the flow hive yet?
Thx
Well dav. I think that turn thing is supposed to bee the handle . Robin Frazier liberty texas usa
Seriously David?
I'm a first time beekeeper and have assembled two Flow Hives, looking to buy a third. It's really easy if you just follow the instructions one step at a time
Assembly is part of the fun.
I don't want the hassle of harvesting s langstroth, I love the simplicity of harvesting. I've harvested honey twice so fast and I'm coming up to 12 months in November.
My grandchildren love looking through the windows in the super
Flow Hive is for the hobbyist, but no good for a commercial beekeeper
BTW. each of the Flow Frames holds about 3.5 Kg of honey. If you put the frames in properly, the bees don't get out
I pop some frames out when I inspect the brood to lighten the weight of the super because I'm not as young as I used to be
Lifting the super is easy, one hand in the handle home and one under the edge. I rooting with adding a couple of metal handles which won't be s problem because i don't need to stack supers when not in use
Flow Hive do instructional love streams every Wednesday (Australian time)
Excuse me, in going to pause the video and go out to inspect my girls 🐝😂
When i put my super on, i rubbed soft wax on the frames then sprayed with sugar water. The girls went straight in and got to work
i will make a lot of questions ... between upper and lower hive shouldnt be / exist a locking (somewhere...) ? i see that they can be separated easily or fall out of a strong wind ...
I've heard of a LOT of people having flow hives have trouble, problems, etc.
Keep it up Dave, you are nice and awesome. Especially like that you are] honest in what you tell people.
Thanks Noah
Can I buy this and where I can find it ?how much is it ?
I would rather use a top bar if ease of processing is the issue. Thanks for the review. I was wondering. Aloha!
Thanks
I didn't read all the comments, but I did hear one time of a guys mistake with a flow hive, they must have forgot to put the queen excluder on and she ended up laying in the flow frames. That was the end of that. Couldn't clean them out after that.
Uh Oh....Yikes, good point
We spent three days of paced, fun construction, not three weeks. And... some people don't want three hives, so they're happy to pay for the flow hive. So it needs to be kept in perspective for who may or may not want it. They are the right hive for the right people. Flow Hive give great support to their customers and create excellent videos. Fair enough about the handle. :) I was concerned that you mentioned that maybe the manual might have mentioned something you missed. I think it's better manners to have read the manual and also have a fully producing flow hive prior to critiquing it. Just my thoughts.
Sorry this video missed the mark with you.😢 I'll try to do better. To be fair, I did say in the video many of the things you mentioned and I also mentioned that it took me longer to build because I didn't have time to dedicate none stop time, I just had to work on it as I had free time here and there.
The handle is where the shelf is you remove the shelf and grab it
I am a new beekeeper and faithfully do my inspections and took the Flow Hive beekeeper classes. I don't think that was a fair assessment to say that we do not take care of our bees.
What happens if you get a skinny queen that slips up into the super? Can you inspect to see if there is any brood in there before you extract?
Clueless, good point. Someone else said brood got up there and it was no way to deal with it. Dunno
Test an anel hive next!!! Please! I have 2 and think moisture over winter may be a problem.
Thanks for the suggestion
Well dav. I bought 7 of the flowhives from another Beek and wish now I had not. Robin Frazier liberty texas usa
thanks! I'm no beekeper, just a curious viewer. How about just buying the frames, then customizing a regular cheap box to host them?
It'd save half of the money and you'd get all the details the way you want them. It was hard to assemble anyways, so ...
Would you recommend that?
Take the windows if the super and you have handles.
Try waxing the threads of the thumb screws in the lid. :)
But for over $1,000???
Where I come from stainless steel is a nickel alloy which IS magnetic.
Is it possible that your flow hive came with aluminum screws and that’s why it wasn’t magnetic?
I found it quite easy to assemble and I'm not very good at assembly.
You got the skills!
Do they include a red flashlight so you can harvest at night without getting the jars half full of bees?
Last summer our club did an extraction day. we were a mile from the Apiary and still there were so many bees we had a 30 gallon trash can covered with them and that doesn't include the ones we had to filter out of the honey before someone had the presence of mind to cover the extractors with cloth to keep the bees out of them.
Yes, I only extract late in the day, like this Thursday at 7pm on my livestream. Here's the link: www.honeybeesonline.com/live
Yup just use the back opening for a handle
i have heard several comment "no handles " DUH well ADD some ! how hard is it !?? I would !
I think the issue is for $1200 it's too bad you have to add your own handles. 🤷🏻♂️
Hello David, Did you put the drawn frame in the 1-10 slot? Why?
I enjoy your videos, Thanks
I placed it next to the other brood frames