I am not seeing ANY honey in my Flow Hive

And October there are 3 contributors I’m the 3rd person - and I’ve fared well

I did nothing but put the supers on. Last year they drew them quickly and filled them. This year they swarmed early before I put on any supers and I got a dearth in the middle of summer. There was no surplus so they didn’t use them. Bees will use them when they need them. All of the rest of it is just trying to induce the bees to accept them better, but so far that has not been an issue for me if there is a strong flow. They also didn’t fill the rest of the hive with honey, so it’s not like mine were avoiding the flow frames. They just don’t have a surplus this year and last year they had one.

1 Like

Sorry to hear you have had a slow start with your Flow Frames. Some peoples Flow Frames fill quickly and others take time.
We have a faq here about it - https://www.honeyflow.com/faqs/why-arent-my-bees-filling-the-flow-frames/p/194#a1
Our general faqs are here - https://www.honeyflow.com/faqs/all and here -
https://www.honeyflow.com/faqs/p/22
Our beginner beekeeping series is here - https://www.honeyflow.com/gallery-videos/beginner-beekeeping-videos/p/192

You can also email in to customer service with some pictures and/videos and our team who is working with Flow Frame troubleshooting will be able to assist you further.
https://www.honeyflow.com/contact/p/3

In regards to advertising, I always think about BMW (for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNCvVwWScAk), do they have to teach you how to drive a car, get a license, do they tell you how to drive in off-road conditions, or that you will be rich, etc., etc. They don’t claim you will be a handsome man, or that you will read a newspaper in the back of the car. Advertisements have been around for a long time.
They are selling a product, it is up to the buyer to research and decide if the product is for them.
I had to recently buy a new computer, I did not just look at the video add and decide from there. I researched into what I wanted, if it would suit me.

This was a crowdfunding venture to make a new invention from scratch, and as such, all the possible scenarios have not been worked out all around the world. It has been a gradual process with feedback from customers, staff, even our own team about what is and isn’t working.
We have sent out surveys for feedback, we created this forum so that knowledge would be readily available. We have created a free beekeeping video series, we are working on a worldwide list of beekeeping clubs around the world. Flow has done the best they can to provide as much knowledge is as possible.
But as beekeeping is regional, and there are different techniques all around the world, we do recommend that beekeepers join their local beekeeping club, meet local beekeepers, and get informed about what is required in their area with council regulations, etc.

Again, I am sorry your Flow Frames aren’t going well. Please email customer support and hopefully we can help you resolve this issue. You never know you may have some Flow Frame issues. Or maybe you just need to rub some comb onto your Flow Frames to encourage the bees there.

3 Likes

Just replying to the question re the pallet super… Yes, just regular pallets ( quite splintery ) but the last thing I do to the job is to sand with an orbital finishing sander. The result is really quite amazing, you get the look you see there and not the really rough look from the unfinished pallets. Its still rustic enough to look great though.

Also some more info re the acceptance of the flow hive this time (last time they did absolutely nothing to my flow hive in 5 months…) after coating both sides of each frame with a light coating of wax is that the flow hive is crammed full of bees and Im quietly optimistic that the result will be quite different to last time. I’ll post some pics tomorrow of the activity through the side windows of the hive.

3 Likes

Just wanted to chime in with my own experience as a new beekeeper. It may not be particularly helpful to those having the “no honey” issue, but still felt I should mention what’s happened in my little world out here in Southern Ontario, Canada. I have only one hive, with two Langstroth 10 frame brood boxes and a 7 frame Flow super on top. I put a nuc in the first brood box at the end of May, and then when that was 70% drawn out (July 10th), added the second brood box. Within a week (!) the second brood box was 60% drawn out, so I put on the Flow super on July 18th (with a queen excluder). On August 21st, I saw the first appearance of honey in the Flow super and one week later (August 28th) all the frames had some honey in them. As of today (September 10th) all the frames seem to be completely filled with honey, but no capping yet. I really don 't know what I’m doing as a beekeeper yet, just slowly learning as I go along. But to be clear: I didn’t do anything at all to my Flow super, no coating, smearing, etc. and the bees went straight to it and started filling it with honey. I wish I could offer some suggestions to those having the opposite experience, but all I can do is tell you what I did (and didn’t do) and what the result has been.

2 Likes

OK… After nothing but token interest for 5 months last season, wintering with the Flow hive removed. Rolling a thin amount of wax from the hive onto each face of the flow frames. Adding the super back onto the hive a few days ago … this is the action I now have when view through the windows into the flow hive.


I am quietly optimistic this time and will post again in a couple of weeks hopefully with some proof that the frames have accepted / rejected…

3 Likes

Faroe,
Thank you for your long response.

I am sorry that my comments have been deemed objectionable. I find your comments about cars and computers condescending. I have never asked Flow Hive to hold my hand on every little thing. It all boils down to one thing:

The presentations I viewed from day one all show putting the Flow Hive on top of a working hive that is at least 80% full. Then they show honey gushing out. One sentence in these presentations could be devoted to the issue of plastic. “The Flow Hive frames are made from plastic and as such may benefit from a light coating of wax to help the bees get started.”

End of story. I was not suggesting that Flow Hive detail 35 scenarios from around the world in all weather conditions, nectar flows, etc.

By reacting the way you have you are communicating to me that you still don’t get the point I was trying to make. I wrongly assumed that the almost fully drawn cells of Flow Hive would not need a coating of wax like is normally put on plastic foundation. My mistake. Frankly I didn’t even consider it an issue. Why is it so bad to suggest that your company could have made this observation? It is foundational (no pun intended) to the whole start up process and should be addressed. I do not consider myself and expert. I ask dumb questions all the time. But many of your clientele around the world are true newbies and may have never heard of plastic foundation and certainly wouldn’t know that it comes coated with wax.

Here is the response I would have liked to receive:

"Thank you Larry for pointing out that our installation instructions do not include the observation that all plastic foundation can benefit from a wax coating. We will make sure this makes it into the future instructions. We realize that not all users are experienced and many do not sit down and read FAQ from stem to stern.”

I am a fan not a detractor. I am trying to make this work not tear it down. I suggest that emulating car companies approach (selling sex not technology) is not a good analogy. Show the honey flowing out of the hive by all means, but in the nitty gritty installation videos show painting with wax as a good optional precaution.

Good luck with ongoing sales. You will benefit greatly from good word of mouth and you will get that by listening harder and defending less.

Larry

1 Like

This forum has had many threads, responses, queries, complaints & compliments. Regardless 95% of them (complaint or otherwise) have come from a genuine place without an agenda. Even @Jape, whilst occasionally abrupt, some said rude, offered real & considered advice/opinion (plus he had the excuse of English as a second language) the majority of the time. Posts such as yours @Fusion offer nothing. this thread has become a repetitive seeking of self justifcation.

1 Like

I’m sorry if I came across condescending. I could have said any brand, a car add was just the first thing that pops into mind, with buying something, but also needing knowledge beforehand to use it.
In my long comment, I mentioned we are using feedback to improve.
By the initial video not having enough information for everyone, to then creating the faqs as I listed above, means that as a company we are in fact acting on feedback and questions from customers and providing advice and feedback.
Maybe you didn’t get that point of mine. It’s all good, I’m just explaining it from one perspective and you are explaining it from another.
Maybe you didn’t see the whole topic I created asking for feedback so that we can impove our manual…
http://forum.honeyflow.com/t/feedback-for-our-manual/8007

I am on the forum trying to help Flow customers, and so are the other forum members, sometime’s I am a human being though, and have to put my human emotional reaction in as well (opinion).

I did not mean to be derogatory, I thought I stated my thoughts in an objective way, but alas, in a world of words on a screen, we can’t always see tone and body language.

Here is another thread on the topic, which you might find some handy info on - How to encourage bees to use the Flow Frames

I hope we can help you to get some honey in your Flow Frames soon, and yes, I have taken your advice and passed it on to the Flow team to improve our communication with people interested in Flow.

1 Like

Thank you Faroe,

End of thread.

I don’t think there are any problems with the issues you are raising or that you’re raising them (to a degree I agree), it’s how you are raising them.

Having kept bees in multiple climates I can attest to the fact that experiences can be (and are) wildly different. The reality is that in some places (including where the Flow hive was developed) the honey flow is so strong that placing a super on a thriving hive is sufficient. Coating frames isn’t required, but definitely helps. Moving standard drawn frames up next to the flow frames may also help (works for me), but beekeeping isn’t prescriptive, you can’t expect it to all marry up with what works for your exact location.

I have my own issues with the original promotional video because it completely skips the fact that managing the brood box is what takes the time (and this doesnt change with the Flow hive)… I am surprised how many Flow owners only discover this after their purchase.

3 Likes

I have two colonies with Flow Hives on them they were both picked up and placed on at the same time. One Flow Super is almost full. It has still has 3 1/2 frames to fill in the exterior frames. However the other hive has hardly any honey in the frame. Very weird. Not sure what to think and it’s been almost 2 months. Any thoughts?

I can think of 2 possibilities. #1, One colony could be stronger than the other. #2, The second colony hasn’t found the good nectar source yet. It a secret society, within a bee hive.

2 Likes

Thanks for the input Jeff. I don’t think it’s a problem finding a source. It’s right in front of a field of Golden Rod. I guess it’s #1.

1 Like

You’re most welcome. It would be a good idea to check on the brood to make sure everything as ok in that area.

1 Like

last year I had two colonies in the yard with flow supers- one produced around 40KG of honey over the season- the other only about 4- they never completed their flow frames and it just languished… . To look at they seemed similar- same size broods- but the one that didn’t produce had mild chalkbrood- and was not firing on all cylinders.

I think more than any other thing- it is the health of the colony and the availability of nectar that determine what happens. Rubbing wax on the frames helps to get the bees started- but I have started several hives without doing that and the bees have immediately taken to the frames- I have rubbed wax on others and the bees have done little.

2 Likes

I found this post googling why the exact thing is happening with my hive. It has been 10 weeks since I added my flow super (I added it when the hive had filled out nearly every frame in the brood box) and, though I see bees all over the flow frames every day, I don’t any evidence of the bees filling them with nectar and don’t even see any comb drawn. This is a very strong hive of feral bees and they have filled two outside frames in the brood box with capped honey but nothing in the flow frames.

Does anyone have any idea what they are doing on the frames if not filling them? I am about ready to give up.
PS - I brushed every flow frame with wax and put an inside feeder at the top with comb and honey to get them to go up. I have also checked the brood box and they are in great shape.

Hi Sally, I have one suggestion. You could move 2 fully sealed brood frames up to the center of the flow super after removing two of the flow frames. Move the remaining flow frames closer to the brood frames, leaving gaps on the sides. Replace the brood frames with new frames, in a checker board fashion. The bees will most likely replace the emerging bees with honey & could start on the adjacent flow frames in the process & get the ball rolling on the flow frames. However that all depends on how much honey is about.

1 Like

Thanks! I might try that as long as I can see the queen to be sure I don’t put her in the flow frame - I am using an excluder. I have another question, is there a reason I should take 2 frames of capped brood instead of just 1?

Hi Sally, one would also work, I think. Yeah just make sure that you don’t include the queen.

I read your profile, to see your location & noted that you suspect that your colony could be Africanized. Use plenty of smoke & see if you can manage that task. If not, you might need to consider re-queening the hive. I have had some cranky hives in the past, where you couldn’t do a task like that without needing some serious protection. This is in Australia, where I don’t think we have Africanized bees. Sometimes I wonder.