I presume what you are discussing is a Boardman-type entrance feeder? How does it not fit? If it tilts because of the raised entrance threshold, I would just put some shims under the feeder base to level it. If the feeder extension doesn’t go through the entrance into the hive, I would not use it any more. There are other feeders, and I would suggest either a pail feeder, or a hive top feeder. Here are some links:
http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/8-Frame-Hive-Top-Feeder-w_Floats/productinfo/262/
http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/Pail-Feeder/productinfo/664/
I have TBHives and would like to adapt Flow Hive on them. I made some shorter, lighter TBHs that seem they’d be good to start with. Can anyone provide dimensions of the flow hives?
They are standard Langstroth 8-frame hives. Outer dimensions are 20 x 14" Imperial. 
There are no gaps between the top bars
How are the bees going to access a super above?
Are you just going to modify it slowly to a long hive?
Hello Dee,
Perhaps I could make a slot in one top bar for the bees to move upwards.
Have you done an adaptation?
.[quote=“sdbeeguy, post:511, topic:34”]
Have you done an adaptation?
[/quote]No though I do know people who run long hives but they are just like Langs but longer.
I don’t see any way you can do it unless you spend the best part of a season expanding the nest sideways with Lang top bars, maintaining the gap as in a moveable frame hive then working the top bar combs out. Then you will have a top bar shaped Long Hive
The bees would probably just seal it up. I don’t think they would recognise the flow frames above as part of the hive. A way of getting bees to clean up a spun out super is to put it above the brood and put a crown board with a feeder hole in between. the bees rob the remaining honey out.
Thanks, Dee. What you say sounds like good advice. I’ll look for pictures of what you describe. The video showing the adaptation of a Lang box to accept the Flow Frames is very good. Not hard to do.
I just installed mine Saturday. I bought this enterance reducer and I am wondering if you or anyone can tell me how it fits? I clearly can’t figure it out. Lol.
Hello! My name is Jackie. My husband and I currently live in south Florida and we are looking to start bee keeping and we have zero experience. We have been looking into this for sometime but don’t really know where to start. For instance, a brood box. Is it necessary to have one under our flow hive to prevent the queen from laying her eggs where the honey will be harvested?
You need a box where the bees live and the colony grows; the brood box.
The Flow frames sit on top of that when the colony is strong and that is where the bees put their honey.
Beekeeping is simple but there are quite a few things you need to learn about managing them. They need to be “looked after” so to speak. It’s not just a question of putting them in a box and stealing their honey.
The best thing you can do is to join a local beekeeping club where you can learn from other beekeepers and hopefully acquire a mentor to help you through the early days.
Learn a little first, get some hands on experience of handling somebody else’s bees then get your own…and enjoy
My name is Rick and I live in Loomis CA on 10 AC of property
. I have a very large garden and fruit tree orchard of 24 fruits.
I just got my honey flow boxes a week ago and bees yesterday! Installed the bees and giving them a few days before first inspection to check on queen release.
1 Like
Welcome Rick, and wow you are living my dream. i.e. 10 acres of gardens and fruit trees… Heaven!
Hi @RickMassie , We used to have a place on Horseshoe Bar! We are in the City now, which we love, but I miss my big porch swing on warm evenings! Great place for bee watching!
HI, I live on Maui and just became a beekeeper, well, it’s been since August 2015 really. Had a little new family that made a hive in a sculpture stand (we are artists) and was encouraged to keep them…had them put into a new box. They were put in with their brood so they built their own comb. Interesting to me. Upon a new inspection on 4/19/16,they seemd to build up the frames, but it looks like the frames are attached to eachother. I was afraid to rip the frames apart…??? didn’t want to lose any or destroy the comb…is this normal? My bee keeper mentor is no where to be found and I would love a connection on Maui. Does anyone know anybody local here? Tough to find. Anyway, it looked like they were doing fine…I only seperated one frame and even though I smoked them,they seemed agitated. I put my moderated box on top without an excluder (has 4 flow frames) and closed her up! Thought I would let them get to business without me inspecting each frame. I did notice the outside frames in the brood box were not filled at all. Really need some input. Thank you so much!! Aloha.
1 Like
It is normal for bees, but aggravating for beekeepers. In the US, most cities require that you inspect your frames regularly for disease and pests, and you can’t do that if they are all stuck together. I would suggest that you join a local bee club, and ask if somebody would be willing to come and help you inspect your hive and sort out the comb. There are usually ways of saving at least some of it, and although it will set your bees back a little bit, your climate is so mild, they should recover quickly.
Bees are often very defensive of their hive once they are established. However, you have a feral swarm, and it is possible that their genetics have drifted. I believe that there are some very good queen producers in Hawaii, so you may want to investigate re-queening. Again, I strongly suggest that you get help from a bee club member in doing this, because queens are pricey ($25 to $50+ each), and you don’t want to make all of the mistakes that I have over the years! 
I found this, but I don’t know how active they are. At least you might get to talk to somebody relatively local:
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~zinner/101/students/kimBees/Bees.html
In that situation, I would not put the Flow super on top. Only do it when all of the frames are drawn in the lower box, and at least least 80% full of food, brood and bees. If you give them too much space, they can have trouble defending it from pests.
Great attitude! Keep asking questions and we will all try to help you. 
Hi, I live in the San Juan Islands, Washington state, US. Used to be a commercial beekeeper for about a dozen years starting in 1975. We pollinated almonds in CA then moved to fruit in WA then honey locations in the Methow and Okanogan valleys of north central WA. It’s been quite awhile since I’ve had my head in a hive but a friend bought a flow hive and asked for assistance here on the island. We installed a package and queen, unfortunately the queen didn’t take and we have another in that should be released about now. Kind of fun to go back to hobby status after having 1400.
1 Like
Welcome. Your friend is very lucky to have an experienced teacher. Let us know if we can help out with any Flow super questions, the rest of the management should be just the same as a standard Langstroth.
Hello from Devon in the UK, awaiting shipment of my Flow Hive. I’ll be a new beekeeper and am very excited to get started. Would live to hear from anyone in the south west of England with this type of hive as the local group I’ve joined has never heard of them - I’ll be a newbie in every way! Louisa
1 Like
Aloha again! Thanks so much for your input! I have communiticated with the local Apiary and hopefully i will find a class. Now I am dealing with the darn hive beetle and ants it looks like around the outside of the box. I am going to get in there tomorrow I decided, just take the flow hive off the top and get into the broad and pull all the frames out. Still not finding a willing fellow bee keeper! hard to believe! Thank goodness for utube!