British Columbia Bee Keepers

Hi Kim. I am in Victoria and got my nuc locally last week. However, the Flying Dutchman in Nanaimo provides these products & services:

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Thanks so much. I did contact them and the nucs will not be ready until late April and I found Big D Bees in the Comox Valley and his nucs will be ready in May. You are warmer in Victoria, but I did see some bees out on the weekend.

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Thanks so much I am on my learning curve now

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Great. Weā€™ve had our bees for 5 weeks now. I added a second brood box two weeks ago, and had a look this past weekend. It was filling up quickly, so I plan to add the honey super (flow frame box) on May 1st.

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I got my nuc 10 days ago. They are doing great. I have not added the Flow Hive yet, but will do this weekend.

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Before you super, consider how strong they are. Have they drawn all the frames and is there brood on 80% of it?
Itā€™s just that 10 days seems somewhat soon. Most nucs take a couple of months to build up to a strength where they make surplus honey.
Also, do beekeepers run one or two brood boxes generally in your area?
If two then you should be adding another brood box when the first has all the frames drawn and is ā€œbursting with beesā€

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Thanks Dee. I was just going by what was said on the Flow Hive video. I will check them on the weekend to see how they are doing. I have not wanted to disturb them much. They are very active on warm days over 18 and less so on the cooler days.

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Our 2nd brood box was bursting with bees, so we added the honey super (flow frame box) today. Also did a sugar shake test and no mites (fingers crossed).
All seems well, including the very early summer here.

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Hi,
Just found this forum.We are in Armstrong just north of Vernon. We are coming into our third year of bee keeping and I received a flow hive for Christmas.We currently have 11 full hives and 12 nucs . Four of our hives are in double deep ten frames the remainder are in single 10s. Spring has been early here, but no real honey flow yet. The bees seem reluctant to use the flow hive. Hopefully a good flow will change that. I look forward to hearing others experiences.
Bruce

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I still have a brand new Flow classic hive for sale. All reasonable offers considered.

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Hi,
Did you sell it?

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I think it may be sold tonight.

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Hi,
Iā€™m in Nicola Valley between Merritt and Princeton on the 5A.
Was hoping to hear from people in my area about the success of issues of having a flow hive.
I started mine last year, but ran into a series of problems that made me decide to leave my weak colony all their honey and I did not use the flow super. As a result of a long hard winter and the condition of the hive, I lost my bees. I will be restarting again later this month with a new Nuc. Try, try again!
What is your weather like and what is your experience with the flow hive?
I did a bee class recently and the instructor was negative and said the flow works the first time, but then there are issues with blocking or something.
Any news would be helpful.
Nancy

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Wow you live in one of my favorite areas. I love the drive from the connector to Princeton. We are in Armstrong so normally a little warmer and milder than you and perhaps a bit more moisture.
We went into winter with 29 colonies and came out with 27.
We used our flow hive last summer and learned a few things from it. I had varnished the super and I am not sure if the smell of the varnish or just the flow hive itself put them off but we had a hard time getting the bees to enter it. I had one hive swarm rather than move up.
To remedy this we took a hive with an almost full super of honey and set the flow hive between the brood box and the honey super. I also put about a pound of honey we had extracted in a feeder above the super. Instant success and we pulled about 30 pounds off two weeks later. We put the wet flow hive back on and they filled it a second time.
I normally put my extracted frames back on for the bees to clean but in the case of the flow hive I kept it wet all winter. I will probably give it a spray with some hot sugar water prior to putting it on but I sure dont see why there would be a problem using it the second time.
If your have problems with it drop me a note.
Regards
Bruce

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Thank you so much for the quick reply.
Iā€™m excited about the new seasonā€¦even if itā€™s terribly late.
Iā€™ll keep you posted with any news or discoveries from my experiences this season.
Good luck to you,
Cheers,
Nancy

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Hi Nancy,
What with the dry hot weather, and the fires how are you making out?
Its been a challenging year here but we are hanging in.

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Hi Guys,

My name is Eric and I run a small online marketing agency in Vancouver

I just got into this whole bee thing and very interested.

Iā€™m looking to buy my first hive when I move out of my apartment.

Iā€™m also looking to sell the honey you produced. If you are interested, please reply me or send me a private message and we can work something out.

Thanks

Eric

Hi Pamela,
Iā€™m curious how your flow hive turned out and where you purchased it. Iā€™d like to get one too for my partner as he wants to become a bee keeper. Thanks!

Hallo do you still have the flow hive for sale

Hello,
My parents and I are embarking on our second year of beekeeping. We have two hives and had lots of learning curves last year. We lost one hive and our second hive wasnā€™t strong enough to put on the flow hive last year. Our one hive looks like it will make it through this winter. The bees have already been out collecting pollen. We are wanting to prevent the hive from swarming and have read that putting on a second brood box can prevent that. Wondering if putting on the flow hive instead of a second brood box would create the same opportunity for space? Thinking that if we put on a second brood box, we wonā€™t have the opportunity to put on the flow hive for a second year. Would love to hear thoughts on this. Thank you,
Jamie

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