forgive me as i am a new bee keeper, and will receive my flow hive super and frames in december. My question is specifically about preserving the hive strictly for the bees use, and storage of honey for winter. I plan on allowing my bees to keep all of their honey, and only harvest from the flow hive for myself. should i add a queen excluder to the existing hive on any level to keep from allowing her to migrate freely, or will that not be an issue as i dont plan on harvesting regularly from the existing hive? any information would be helpfull!
She may still lay in the flow frames so it is recommended to use between the brood chamber and the super that holds the flow frames. They are designed to be undesirable for laying but she will lay drones in it if she has no other option. Best bet is to give her some drone comb in the brood chamber to alleviate this desire. You didn’t specifically say which package you go whether it was the full or the lite. If you have the lite version you can fit 4 frames of traditional frames in with the 3 flow frames so you wouldn’t need to do anything different. If you got the full super with 6 frames then you may want to add another super of traditional frames for them to over winter on between the brood box and the flow frames. That ensures that they will fill those for themselves first and then work on the flow frames for you after.
thank you for the insight! i have purchased the full super with flow frames. i am in no hurry to harvest for myself. as long as the bees are happy, i am happy.
You will need to go down into the brood on a regular basis and do all the necessary checks for disease, mites, beetles, etc… also if you are operating a single brood box it will be necessary to perform some brood manipulation at certain times of the year to prevent swarming and renew old comb and frames (this is also necessary for double brood boxes too). If you don’t there could be terrible consequences for your bees and your neighbours won’t be impressed if your hive keeps swarming. In spring I move the honey frames and some capped brood from the brood chamber up into a super to create more space for the queen to lay and keep the workers busy. The Flow Super will go on top of this super. Another option is to perform an artificial swarm or hive split.
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I agree completely with Rodderick.
bmull024 …you need to learn to be a beekeeper so have a hunt around for a beekeepers’ club local to you.
It’s not as easy as sticking a tap on.
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