How to encourage bees to use the Flow Frames

Oh man! Thanks - CAVEAT - I am just sharing what I see and experience.

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Yes - someone did and told me of a YouTube video where a man roller paints the cells on both sides with beeswax
and re-introduces the cells to the FLOW box. I have just done that today (finally) and I will report on this as I learn more. It is strangely comforting to know that others have some similar problems with this. Fingers crossed ! Andy

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Thanks Andy

Have assembled mine but haven’t done the wax rolling as yet. Keep the updates coming :slight_smile:

I melt wax in my slow cooker and paint it on the frames before first use, easy to clean slow cooker with balls of newspaper while hot. Has been very successful with first complete filling of frames in five weeks.

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Hello. New-bee here… I searched using various keywords for this being addressed already, but nothing matched, so apologies if it’s been covered…

I have a wonderfully strong hive (I think). Started out with a 5-frame nuc on 6 May and they filled the other 3 foundationless frames in 2 weeks. Put on the second box and the 6.5 of the 8 new frames were filled out by 3 June, so I went ahead and put on the flowhive queen excluder and honey super. The last 1.5 frames were done in about 4-5 days. Always have lots of brood and larvae visible (I take pics of my frames when I inspect so I can go back and compare).

However, it’s been almost 2 weeks now with nothing happening up in the honey super. They’re passing through the excluder just fine (note to Flowhive: I think the excluder as it comes sits a little too low for them to move comfortably around on top of the frames; I built and installed a 1/16" shim and they were much more mobile and seemed happier) and I have hundreds of bees hanging out in the honey super and in the cells, but aside from them depositing propolis in the bottoms of the cells, hanging out seems to be all they’re doing. The two bottom boxes are all full (including at least 1 frame that’s all honey); how long before I should expect them to start storing up there? Thanks!

Hello Stosh, welcome to the Flow forum.

It sounds like your hive has done exceptionally well for just the one season. In around 6 weeks, you have 2 deeps established with a super on top. That is truly amazing progress. I guess the nectar flow must be fantastic in Virginia this year! :blush:

Answering your question is complicated, I am afraid.

First, many parts of the northern hemisphere have a nectar dearth in June, commonly known as “the June Gap”. Do your local beekeepers say this is happening right now? If so, they won’t have anything to put in the Flow super.

Second, one frame of honey in 2 deep brood boxes is not that much. My Flow hive probably has at least 6, but they are in their second year. Your bees may still be putting honey into the brood boxes for winter stores and feeding their brood for the rest of the season. They will only put excess into the Flow super once the brood nest has sufficient.

Third, did you wax the Flow frames before putting them into the super? If you don’t they take much longer to accept the plastic frames. Some people have even had to wait a whole year. Some advice on that can be found here:
http://forum.honeyflow.com/t/bees-didnt-put-honey-into-the-frames/11656/3?u=dawn_sd

and here:

Sorry I can’t give you a straightforward answer, but they will work the frames if you give some encouragement with waxing, and they have a good nectar flow. My bees started waxing the Flow super in about 2 days, and storing nectar/honey after 2 weeks. However, it took just over 2 months to get a ripe frame of fully capped honey. Here is my harvest from 2 frames yesterday - about 5 quarts or 14lb! :smile:

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No, we haven’t had a June gap here (yet); the weather’s been very favorable with a good honeyflow going on. I just assumed they were filling the gaps with propolis (because the color was largely the same), but now yes, I can see they’re working with the beeswax. I have a bunch of burr comb wax, so I’ll rub some wax on half the frames and leave the rest as a control group and see what happens. Thank you for the insight and quick response!

One other thing to remember. Flow kindly put observation windows on the Super boxes, but the windows don’t really tell you what is happening in the middle of the box. My bees started off by waxing and filling the middle 2 frames. I couldn’t see that from the windows at all, I had to inspect.

So if you think they aren’t doing anything with your Flow frames, make sure that you lift them all out of the Super and take a close look. :wink:

i have found that even if a hive seems very strong- they will not start filling the super until they are good and ready. Even though your colony has expanded very fast- as they go they are using up a lot of honey. As the nectar comes in it is being used to support the large and expanding population and build new comb, etc. So there can be a period where it seems like not much is happening. However you will soon find that the hive turns a corner and more nectar comes in than is being consumed- then quite rapidly the frames can start to fill.

I have also found that that rubbing wax on the frames is not always necessary- basically if the bees have surplus they start laying it in. I have rubbed wax on frames and they have still been ignored- and I have not rubbed wax and the frames have filled in a few weeks. I think the wax can help- but it is only a small part of the story.

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Hello and good morning from Germany!
I am a newbeekeeper and I have 1 hive (right now). My helper suggested to sprinkle a bit honey-water-mix at the plastic frames to get the bees to them. It wasn’t necessary for me but maybe it’s a good idea for you. Hope it will work for you.

Patience is also required.
My bees took most of a summer, all of winter into the next nectar flow.
However when they did start it only took a few weeks from first honey to be deposited to harvesting 6 full frames.
Bees seem do what they want to when they want to. :slightly_smiling_face:

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The Flow is winding down in the mid atlantic: Take care of the mites, and prepare for winter.

I painted mine frames with wax in early Spring…they wee not on it and after rolling wax on the frames they started working them like crazy…sealing the cracks, ect…they are now caping honey in them…

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Hi @JayPe. A bit of sugar water would do the trick. Not sure how it is in Germany, but unless the honey for your sprinkle is from that same hive, you could be introducing unnecessary AFB spores to your hive. Certainly never feed your bees store bought honey.
AFB is American Foulbrood, not sure what it’s called in Germany.
I used a few blobs of burrcomb randomly pressed into the frames with a few sprinkles of sugar water. The bees went up there straight away.

Hi!
Yes , that was a suggestion too. I remember that he said the same things… sugar is better and easier to sprinkle. Good to hear that the trick did it for you :slight_smile:

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Wouldn’t using a little lemongrass oil in the sugar water be helpful as well?

I would be very careful with that. Essential oils could flavor the frames for ever! :blush: My bee-feeding pails smell strongly of lemongrass and spearmint (from Honey-B-Healthy) for months after I last used them. Even when I have washed them carefully or run them through the dishwasher! You really don’t want to flavor your honey.

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Starting with a ‘well populated brood box’ followed by two & half months of brood production should (usually) be enough to get the bees producing good volumes of honey. Based in Perth, I started with a small swarm in Sept and in Dec, with frames full of brood, I installed the flow super and got a small harvest early March, then again in April and May (total 12kg). I painted my flow super with bees wax before installing, and within 4 weeks I could see honey through the inspection window. There was no delay in bees populating / working the flow super. We had lots of flowering trees, shrubs, fruit and vegies all around the area, which surely helped.
I notice your post is dated April. Had any luck with bees & honey in the flow super during May & June?

Gidday Peter and thanks for your message.

I have had the hive now since the beginning of February, with a very well stocked brood. I have not had one drop of honey since then, and there is still no sign of any honey in the flow frames at all. Unfortunately, there is just no nectar or honey on the Atherton Tableland at all, and from speaking to other beekeepers everybody is having to feed their bees at present twice a week.

There is a much reduced honey flow down on the coast around Cairns etc, but even they are complaining at present.

The seasons are all out of wack this year, and hopefully things will change in the near future, and I may get some honey for the first time in my hive.

Cheers

Hi Michael, I agree with @Dawn_SD, I would use the sugar water without adding anything. Apparently white sugar is better for the bees than brown or raw sugar, according to my abc to xyz of bee culture.