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Offline beeutiful

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Flow Hive
« on: February 07, 2016, 06:08:52 am »
Hi All,

I am new to this forum so hello!  :grin:

I have searched previous posts and have not seen any about the new beehive that were on the ABC's Australian story the other day, they are called Flow Hives and have been invented and are being manufactured in Australia. 

Has anyone got one and or any information or thoughts on the design would be great, it has piqued my curiosity.

Cheers

Offline beeutiful

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #1 on: February 07, 2016, 06:15:35 am »

Offline kanga

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #2 on: February 07, 2016, 06:54:15 am »
There was a discussion in the main forum last year re The Flow Hive.

http://www.beemaster.com/forum/index.php?topic=46340.msg401272#msg401272

Kev.

Offline azzkell

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #3 on: February 07, 2016, 08:04:15 am »
Hi, yes I have one but am yet to set it up, I brought just the frames and need to modify a full depth 10 frame box to accommodate them. Looks like a great idea but is a lot of negativity out there about it also, can't knock it till you've tried it right!? Has raised bee awareness but may spawn a breed of bee pet owners. Time will tell.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #4 on: February 07, 2016, 09:47:12 am »
Welcome to Beemaster.
From reports I have read, it is a really good design.
Most of the negative comes from the fact that it attracts people that no nothing about bees to buy one and expect everything to work.
It is not the flow hive. It is the lack of experience of thousands of new beeks with no knowledge thinking they can buy it and have honey pouring out of it.
I recommend you get a hive first and learn how to keep bees first.
This is a great site for learning about bees.
Bee careful, beekeeping is very addictive.  :grin:
Good luck.
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline Rurification

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #5 on: February 07, 2016, 05:12:14 pm »
Welcome to the forum!  The thread that's linked to above is a very interesting read.  Good luck with your bees and if you decide to get a Flow, let us know how it goes.
Robin Edmundson
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Beekeeping since 2012

Offline Suncat

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #6 on: February 07, 2016, 05:31:14 pm »
Welcome,

I too have just received my 'Full Flow' frames, and have this weekend been modifying the super to fit.  It was not difficult, but more changes than I had initially expected, and did require tools like a jigsaw and a coping saw, and some spare timber and steel strapping and screws etc.

Mine is all painted up now and I will place it onto one of my 5 hives and see how it goes, and then in spring do a split and have it as the only super on a hive (currently I have 2-3 honey supers on each hive)

Enjoy

John
John

Online Michael Bush

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #7 on: February 07, 2016, 06:34:53 pm »
I have four.  I've had one for two seasons now and a few more this last season.  It's a fun toy.  It's very expensive...
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
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"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin

Offline beeutiful

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #8 on: February 08, 2016, 06:37:35 am »
Thanks for all the info!

If I do decide to go with the flow hive will this mean I do not need to purchase the extraction equipment for my hives?  I know the flow hive is expensive but if you factor in tha there is no extraction equipment needed and the time saved it maybe not be so expensive after all?

Your thoughts?

Cheers
Tori

Online Michael Bush

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #9 on: February 08, 2016, 10:06:23 am »
>If I do decide to go with the flow hive will this mean I do not need to purchase the extraction equipment for my hives?

You already didn't need to purchase an extractor to harvest honey, but now you can extract without purchasing an extractor...
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesharvest.htm

> I know the flow hive is expensive but if you factor in tha there is no extraction equipment needed and the time saved it maybe not be so expensive after all?

Certainly you can subtract out what you might have spent on a extractor, but one super of them costs as much as an extractor.  I'm not saying it's a bad investment, but extractors are a poor use of your money if you only have a hive or two.  Yet people buy them all the time. 

Synopsis of what I think of the flow hive:
1) It works
2) It is the coolest beekeeping invention since Quinby invented the smoker we all now use.
3) It is currently overpriced (at least for me). It is not in the realm of being financially feasible on any scale right now, but then they were trying to launch it and I?m sure the price will come down eventually. Judging by their sales, they apprently UNDERPRICED it, but for me for practical purposes it's too expensive to buy very many.  But then the first big screen TV I saw was priced out of the realm of practicality too as were early computers. To put them on my 200 hives would cost $82,000 and it would take me a long time to recover that investment, especially since I already have an extractor.
4) The presentation is a little misleading, though probably not intentionally, as most advertising is, and as any oversimplification of a topic is. You can?t just go out to the beeyard and run enough honey for your pancakes and then turn it off. You will have broken open every cell in that frame? You need to wait until it?s capped and then you need to harvest it all. But otherwise, yes, it?s that easy.
5) I?m not sure yet how it would change my management IF it was cheap enough to buy some more, but I?m sure it will require some adjustments. There are some experiments I would want to run to see how things work out. It might be possible, since it?s too deep for the queen to lay in and not the right diameter for either workers or drones, to put it on the bottom of the hive so you wouldn't have to move it? but I won?t know until I have time to try it.
6) You still have to LEARN to manage bees and you still need to MANAGE them. This device will not prevent swarming, it won?t fix brood diseases or mites, it won?t magically do your beekeeping for you. But it will make harvest much easier and less messy. It will probably make management slightly more complicated, or at least different.
7)It remains to be seen how it will age and how long it will last etc. It?s a new product and while Cedar and Stuart have been testing it for years, that is on a small scale. The large scale test is yet to come.

You can keep bees for almost nothing if you build your own top bar hive and you do crush and strain.  This is the opposite.  It's not necessary, but if you have the money to spend, it is a very cool thing to play with.  Honestly I don't see how any beekeeper with some spare cash could resist it.
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
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Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #10 on: February 08, 2016, 12:22:17 pm »
Michael,
Thanks for the write up. Seems very thorough.
Will the bees put pollen in the flow hive? Does the cell depth discourage this?
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Online Michael Bush

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #11 on: February 08, 2016, 12:57:14 pm »
>Will the bees put pollen in the flow hive? Does the cell depth discourage this?

I haven't had them put pollen in them.  I doubt the cell depth would discourage pollen storage but then the bees prefer to put pollen in the brood nest.  If they did, I suppose it would only be a problem if they did it in mass and then you could hose it out and start over.
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
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Offline beeutiful

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #12 on: February 09, 2016, 08:35:51 am »
Thanks so much for your help Michael,

I will be buying a box and some local bees from a lady here in Alice Springs who has been keeping bees for years, I do want to learn how to manage my bees first and will be receiving lots of help from her especially as Alice Springs has some very extreme temperatures.  But I will be watching along with you to see if the price of the flow hive does come down in price :)

Cheers
Tori

Online Michael Bush

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #13 on: February 09, 2016, 09:27:30 am »
I would love to see Alice Springs someday.  Good luck.
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
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Offline Richard M

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #14 on: February 13, 2016, 04:09:42 am »
Thanks for all the info!

If I do decide to go with the flow hive will this mean I do not need to purchase the extraction equipment for my hives?  I know the flow hive is expensive but if you factor in tha there is no extraction equipment needed and the time saved it maybe not be so expensive after all?

Your thoughts?

Cheers
Tori

I usually hire an extractor for all of $10 a day.

Offline beeutiful

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #15 on: February 14, 2016, 08:38:15 pm »
Yes Alice Springs is beautiful, I was born here and am still living here definitely a place to put on your bucket list!

Online Michael Bush

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #16 on: February 15, 2016, 11:30:06 am »
>definitely a place to put on your bucket list!

Next time I'm in Australia, I would like to have three or four weeks to hire a car and drive across the continent. 
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
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Offline Wombat2

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #17 on: February 16, 2016, 03:19:44 am »
 :shocked: Michael 3-4 weeks might let you see something - just remember Australia is as big as the US but only has a population of 24 million. Nearly all concentrated on the Eastern seaboard and little in the South west corner and Tasmania.  When the signs say next petrol 635 Km  they mean it !

There is a sign on the Canning Stock route that says No Food No water No fuel 1200Km
David L

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #18 on: February 16, 2016, 12:11:12 pm »
 
:shocked: Michael 3-4 weeks might let you see something - just remember Australia is as big as the US but only has a population of 24 million. Nearly all concentrated on the Eastern seaboard and little in the South west corner and Tasmania.  When the signs say next petrol 635 Km  they mean it !

There is a sign on the Canning Stock route that says No Food No water No fuel 1200Km

Wow, I guess I better not try to drive my Burgman 650 out there. It can get as much as 53 MPH but it only carries 4 gallons.  :grin:
Most US cars will not make 635 Km (381 miles) let alone 1200 Km (720 miles).
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Online Michael Bush

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Re: Flow Hive
« Reply #19 on: February 16, 2016, 12:36:09 pm »
>Australia is as big as the US

Australia
7,692,024 km2
2,969,907 sq mi

US
9,857,306 km2
3,805,927 sq mi

Close.  Looks like it's 78 percent of the size of the US.  But yes, I know it's huge.  That's why I figured a leisurely drive across (certainly not seeing everything, but crossing the continent) would take me 3 or 4 weeks.

Size is often misunderstood even by people back east in the US and certainly by the Europeans.  Nebraska is roughly the size of the Island of Great Britian...  Europeans often think they can stop off in the US and see New York and Chicago and LA in just a few days...  The driving distance from Bath Main to Omaha, Nebraska is the same as the distance from Paris France to Istanbul.  The distance from Bath Main to Los Angeles is the same as the driving distance from Paris France to Bagdad...  The distance from where I now live (near Omaha Nebraska) to where I used to live in western Nebraska is about 500 miles (750 km).  That's the distance across Great Britain the long way from Brighton to Thurso.
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
-------------------
"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin

 

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