I’m still looking around for clubs, meetings, and other places to connect with local beekeepers. Are there any fellow Flow Hive members in Phoenix?
Yes! I bought my very first flow hive and am brand new to this. Gilbert area
Hi! I also am new to beekeeping and have ordered the 3-pack of frames set to arrive in December. I’ve been doing a lot of online research and figured I would head over to Bookman’s this weekend to see if they had any good bee books. (I’m in Mesa). My husband is a carpenter and is SUPER excited to build the boxes.
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Hi, just started and wanted to see if anyone had found a group to help beginners. I live in Globe but willing to commute to eastern phoenix area.
The only meeting that I am aware of in the Valley is Beekeepers Association of Central Arizona… We meet once a month on the third Thursday of each month. (Except for July and August.) The meetings begin at 7:00
p.m.
Meeting location: The Valley Garden Center, 1809 N. 15th
Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85007
Newbie from Queen Creek AZ signing in. I have both my Honey Flow Hives ready to go (I think) and just waiting on my Italian Bees to come to town in May. I think I am getting a late start and worried about the 45C+ temperatures they will have to endure shortly after moving in but not willing to wait another year. I did build a removable shade so the hives won’t ever get direct sun. Crossing my fingers!
Great to see another Arizonian on here. I imagine as long as they have a source of water, nectar and pollen I’m sure they will do fine.
Thinking of purchase/big life decision! New River, AZ * Has anyone gotten one in AZ yet?
I have mine. Just waiting on my package of bees to arrive. 12 days and counting
Newbie thinking of buying a Flow Hive, here in Maricopa AZ, any suggestions, comments etc?
The Flow hive is great. Just make sure your bees have plenty of shade, water, and stay as cool as possible in the summer. Mine didn’t make it through that hell week we had last month unfortunately
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But as far as you are concerned, the flow hive is all what it says it to be?
I don’t know what you have heard/read, but the Flow hive works.
Here is what it is:
- A standard 8-Frame Langstroth hive, with a new way of extracting honey from the super.
- Nicely made, with western red cedar wood parts and food grade plastic frames for harvesting.
Here is what it is NOT:
- A magical method for keeping bees which means you don’t have to care for bees yourself.
- Different from any other hive requiring different beekeeping practices from your local experts
- A constant honey on tap system which doesn’t require any work
- A guarantee that you will get honey in the first year of beekeeping
If you have specific questions about it, feel free to ask. There is a lot of experience with the Flow hives on this forum now, and many people are very happy to tell you how they have found it works for them.
Dawn, I have only heard good things, was just looking for feedback, before I purchase!
Fair enough - always good to do your due diligence.
There have been some hiccups, firstly with delivery delays, but that isn’t an issue now at all. The next hiccup was with fit quality of the wood parts. I am not a master craftsman with wood, but I do know how to use a piece of sandpaper and a detailing Dremel tool. For me, that is all that was required to get the wood to fit. Some people have had split or broken parts, but Flow has been very good about replacing them rapidly and @beethinking have worked closely with everyone to make improvements all around.
I have had my bees in Flow hive brood boxes for about 10 weeks now, and I am very happy with the quality of the boxes. I started with a 5 frame nucleus at the end of April. I haven’t had a chance to try out the Flow frames, because our California nectar flow has dried up significantly with the approach of La Nina conditions.
For comparison, I have traditional Langstroth equipment too, in high quality pine. I have to say that I far prefer handling the western red cedar Flow hive parts, because they are noticeably lighter for lifting. That is a real advantage to a mature girlie when she is working on her own! 
So for me, it has been worth the cost, and I am looking forward to working with my hives for many years to come.
If we can help any more, please just ask.
Appreciate the feedback, I will be going ahead with my purchase, but will wait until it cools down here before establishing!
As well as purchasing the flow hive, I want to add some additional flowers, fruits and trees to my home to make it bee-friendly, I am in Maricopa, any suggestions?
Rosemary, lavender, African blue basil, sedum (especially Autumn Joy) and gauras all do well with low water requirements. The blue basil in our garden is a really huge hit with the bees. These are all things I have planted this year, and they are very successful in SoCal.
Bees also love citrus trees and I have seen them busy on avocados too.
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My bees went crazy for my basil plants. Normally I pinch them back so they don’t go to seed. But we had a pretty good dearth this year because of the heat in our neck of the woods. I saw a lot of basil pollen stored away in the frames. The beauty of basil is that it will seed itself every year so if you do let some flower for the bees you will have twice as much next year, and it is very heat tolerant.
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