I have the original Flow Hives (both the version 1 and 2). I have serious of issues with them and I assume the Chinese version will have them too.
1. The woodwork is rubbish. Mine are cedar, the oldest and bought direct from the crowdfunding page 5 years ago. The roof leaks like a sieve, finger joints are poor fit. The bottom board have risers nailed on an angle. For a thousand bucks, the quality is appalling. I had similar issues with version 2, laser cut version.
2.The flow frames leak honey. Mine came with loose wires and it was a mess to tighten them after they've been in use. I tightened them and still sagged and leaked. They bow with the weight of honey. I had at least one major flood and drowned hundreds of bees in honey. Flow say this is a rare event but I bet it is not.
Lifting the plastic flow frames from the super can be tricky. Cleaning the flow frames from wax is next to impossible, can't put them in a wax melter.
Customer service can be helpful, but they can also wash their hands and come up with excuses. They downplay all the problems you mention to them.
They are expensive because they have a lot of manufacturing issues, and they often have to re-send parts that are bad.
If I had to buy again, I buy a Chinese copy with no hesitation. Bees line up the cells with wax so honey is not in direct contact with the plastic, if you doubt they are not food grade. In fact that is an issue in itself when wax builds up and makes them harder to open. I have a couple of frames now getting really hard to operate.
As the infringement of copyright, I couldn't care less. I actually did point out to them one guy selling copies, but they strangely didn't reply. So why should I care?
On the plus side, harvesting is easy, mostly, until you get a laying worker in the flow frames, or a slim queen.
Chances are though that my next hive will be a traditional hive, and neither Flow nor a chinese copy.
