Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS => Topic started by: jet09 on October 15, 2015, 10:45:54 pm

Title: Anyone tried honeyflow?
Post by: jet09 on October 15, 2015, 10:45:54 pm
Saw this  (http://www.honeyflow.com) product today. Seems very interesting. Has anyone tried it yet?
Title: Re: Anyone tried honeyflow?
Post by: BeeMaster2 on October 16, 2015, 12:40:49 pm
I have not tried it yet but they the last report that I saw was they sold over $12 million dollars worth of them.
Michael Bush was sent one at the before the sale and he liked it. He said it took most of the work out of collecting honey.
Jim
Title: Re: Anyone tried honeyflow?
Post by: jet09 on October 22, 2015, 09:56:11 pm
I have not tried it yet but they the last report that I saw was they sold over $12 million dollars worth of them.
Michael Bush was sent one at the before the sale and he liked it. He said it took most of the work out of collecting honey.
Jim

Wow that's a lot! It seems like a great idea but I want to know how it effects the bees or honey before I jump on the bandwagon.
Title: Re: Anyone tried honeyflow?
Post by: BeeMaster2 on October 23, 2015, 12:39:24 pm
Not much different from a normal hive. The big thing is that you do not have to tear the hive apart to see if is time to take the honey or to remove it. That is good news for the bees.
Jim
Title: Re: Anyone tried honeyflow?
Post by: rookie2531 on October 23, 2015, 07:44:35 pm
I would like to hear feedback when the frames are a couple years old. Wandering if propolis and other stuff clogs it up.
Title: Re: Anyone tried honeyflow?
Post by: rwlaw on November 13, 2015, 09:19:12 pm
I donno, whole bunch of fussing just for not wanting pull supers and extract vs the cash outlay. Not to mention those are all plastic parts that are being torqued on, in fact it kinda looked like the one on the right might've been leaking ( I don't speak Russian and it sounded like he was moving a pail around), that wouldn't be good if the setup was on the hive and that happened.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tfVs0TVmYDI
Title: Re: Anyone tried honeyflow?
Post by: Richard M on December 09, 2015, 07:37:05 am
I donno, whole bunch of fussing just for not wanting pull supers and extract vs the cash outlay. Not to mention those are all plastic parts that are being torqued on, in fact it kinda looked like the one on the right might've been leaking ( I don't speak Russian and it sounded like he was moving a pail around), that wouldn't be good if the setup was on the hive and that happened.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tfVs0TVmYDI

I think it's Polish actually.
Title: Re: Anyone tried honeyflow?
Post by: mikecva on December 09, 2015, 12:48:16 pm
In reading about it, I could not find anything that indicated you could see inside of the frames (to at least 80% across) to see if the cells are caped or still 'wet' honey.  I does look interesting. Old beekeepers like myself, with bad backs, could still enjoy the beekeeping if it is all that it says it is (I would sell my supers to younger beeks.)  -Mike
Title: Re: Anyone tried honeyflow?
Post by: Michael Bush on December 10, 2015, 11:22:33 am
I would recommend anyone using it make notes at first on what you see in the window in the end and the window on the side and then look at the frames.  In my experience in my climate if there hardly any honey on the ends, then all the honey is probably capped and a good portion of the frame is full.  But that may not always work out that way.  Taking notes will give you a better idea of what those things indicate in your climate in your flows.  Once you have that figured out you may not need to check.  Of course if you have a refractometer you can also check after you harvest.
Title: Re: Anyone tried honeyflow?
Post by: KeyLargoBees on January 04, 2016, 02:00:22 pm
Looks like there is an Aussie Facebook group of concerned Beekeepers discussing Flowhives and some of their problems....

https://www.facebook.com/Save-the-Bees-Australia-1485185251762708/?fref=nf (https://www.facebook.com/Save-the-Bees-Australia-1485185251762708/?fref=nf)
Title: Re: Anyone tried honeyflow?
Post by: Richard M on January 04, 2016, 05:52:10 pm
Looks like there is an Aussie Facebook group of concerned Beekeepers discussing Flowhives and some of their problems....

https://www.facebook.com/Save-the-Bees-Australia-1485185251762708/?fref=nf (https://www.facebook.com/Save-the-Bees-Australia-1485185251762708/?fref=nf)

Yes, a bit of a concern; I was seriously considering getting 6 flow-frames to put on one of my hives next summer but I'll definitely be holding off until there's much more real-world experience with them before making a decision.
Title: Re: Anyone tried honeyflow?
Post by: superbee on January 05, 2016, 12:27:14 am
I have one waiting for the spring honey flow and was asked over a hundred times for my opinion on it.  My main concern is that many of the people who bought one are first time beekeepers and without a mentor are going to have a tough time.  I purchased one because I know that several of my clients bought one and when they have me over to consult I want to give a educated opinion. Once I get it up and running I will come back and share the results.
Title: Re: Anyone tried honeyflow?
Post by: BeeMaster2 on January 05, 2016, 12:42:07 am
Looking forward to your review.
Jim
Title: Re: Anyone tried honeyflow?
Post by: Michael Bush on January 05, 2016, 09:13:43 am
I've been using various fully drawn comb for a decade and a half.  First PermaComb (which came out back in the 60s) and then Honey Super Cell.  With any plastic (fully drawn or not) there is some resistance by the bees at first compared to drawing their own comb and especially compared to having already drawn wax comb.  Once they have used it, though, they don't hesitate at all.  I was pleasantly surprised how quickly the bees accepted the Flow frames though compared to PermaComb or Honey Super Cell.  They seemed to view the flow frames as damaged comb and immediately started sealing the gaps.  Of course it still isn't as quick as accepting drawn wax comb at first, but once they are using it, the bees treat it like any other honey storage comb.
Title: Re: Anyone tried honeyflow?
Post by: BeeMaster2 on January 05, 2016, 12:11:07 pm
Thanks for sharing that Michael.
Jim
Title: Re: Anyone tried honeyflow?
Post by: Richard M on January 06, 2016, 12:49:24 am
I've been using various fully drawn comb for a decade and a half.  First PermaComb (which came out back in the 60s) and then Honey Super Cell.  With any plastic (fully drawn or not) there is some resistance by the bees at first compared to drawing their own comb and especially compared to having already drawn wax comb.  Once they have used it, though, they don't hesitate at all.  I was pleasantly surprised how quickly the bees accepted the Flow frames though compared to PermaComb or Honey Super Cell.  They seemed to view the flow frames as damaged comb and immediately started sealing the gaps.  Of course it still isn't as quick as accepting drawn wax comb at first, but once they are using it, the bees treat it like any other honey storage comb.

I noticed that one of the beekeepers on Facebook recommended spraying with sugar syrup to get them in there and looking around and also minimising empty comb - do you reckon that would help much?

I am quite keen to give it a try as I think a Flowhive would suit my bees in the shed method.

Do you think having a top entrance would help to habituate the bees towards it too?
Title: Re: Anyone tried honeyflow?
Post by: Michael Bush on January 06, 2016, 08:37:44 am
>I noticed that one of the beekeepers on Facebook recommended spraying with sugar syrup to get them in there and looking around and also minimising empty comb - do you reckon that would help much?

It won't hurt.

>Do you think having a top entrance would help to habituate the bees towards it too?

I can't say.  All of my hives have top entrances, so I have no experience with a flow hive super on a bottom entrance, but my guess is that it won't matter.
Title: Re: Anyone tried honeyflow?
Post by: Captain776 on April 11, 2017, 07:15:03 pm
I just bought one 3 weeks ago and will transfer a NUC to it in a week or so.
I bought mine on Ali Express and it is called an Automatic Hive.......I was not aware I was buying a knock off when I bought it.
You can buy one from Ali Express for 368.00 USD delivered by DHL, WHICH IS 1/2 price of the one that says Flow on it.
Flow will try to tell you the plastic is not Food Grade but in fact it definitely IS Food Grade plastic in the Flow Frames.......I have a certified copy of the test report if anyone wants to see it.
This is my first Hive and I will see how it goes, if it works as advertised, I think I will go to 3 hives.
It is a good idea, to rub beeswax on the plastic Flow Frames, just rub a block on the faces, it will grate off bits of wax like a cheese grater and spray them with sugar water to help coax the bees to use them.
I will post my progress with this.

Thanks

Bruce