Assembly | Brood box ends

Modifications & Building Bee Hives
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Hello Flow Forum,

I recently purchased a FH2 Cedar and assembled it all last night. Should I be concerned with the ends of the brood box in these pictures?

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Iv really had to sand back a few of the fingers to really make it fit because of the difference between the 2 pieces.

I tried to make it so the gap/difference between the 2 ends was at the front entrance but by doing so it leaves a noticeable gap. There are a few fingers a the top that are also slightly off.

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Apart from this everything else married up perfectly. The joins for the super are absolutely perfect and just feel this once end is way off in comparison.

Should this be an issue? My main concern is moisture getting into the joins because they are now not flush. Ill be coating with Tung Oil or some kind of exterior sealer in the coming days prior to getting bees.

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Did you use glue?

Any gap that’s large enough will let SHB or ants in as well as moisture, although the bees will eventually propolise them shut.

Personally I’d be calling Flow for a replacement as that looks pretty sloppy for something that’s supposedly precision cut by a laser.

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Also is that the Hoop pine Flow hive?

Will turn dark and mouldy pretty fast if you just oil it, will also rot a lot quicker.

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Send your pictures to Flow, the joints should not be like that.
I’m sure Flow will replace the brood box if the joins are faulty.
No point trying to patch it up, the hives cost enough so expect them to be perfect.
Cheers, G

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@Stevo No glue on the finger joins and hive purchased was Cedar 6 Frame. Do you have other suggestions that keep the wood finish rather than Tung Oil? Have read FAQ’s, and done a fair bit of searching here and most seem to recommend a 1:1 Tung Oil/Citric Solvent.

@George_Perth Thanks for the reply. Just wanted to check the general thoughts before emailing. First year bee keeping so happy to listen to others as I go.

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Oops sorry, yeah looking at the grain again can see it’s cedar.

I’d probably use something like this but will probably need reapplication periodically.

https://www.howardproducts.com.au/orange-tung-wood-oil-500-ml.html

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Yes.

That is similar to the poor quality hive ware I received from Flow too. I bought standard grade (not even premium) boxes from my local bee supply shop that cost half as much and are perfect fit all round.

Email Flow with the photos and let them know. They should replace them. One of my boxes was replaced three times!

I really hate the waste this sloppy workmanship creates.

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Hello and welcome to the Flow forum. :blush:

You have already had a lot of replies, but let me give you the place to send your photos and order number. Send your message and attachments to info@honeyflow.com - they will assess and put things right quickly if they see a problem. Won’t they @Freebee2? :wink:

They really have excellent customer service, so don’t put up with a shoddy hive box, if that is how it looks. Flow wants it to look nice too!

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Hi @Cozi please do email info@honeyflow.com for any product support you need

@Dawn thanks so much for tagging me and yes we do want nice looking hives out there :slight_smile:

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Just thought I would follow up with an end to the story.

Flow customer service team sending a replacement and all sorted within 24 hours of sending initial email.

Thanks everyone for your comments :slight_smile:

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A good result that Flow responded so quickly to fix up the problem you have. It must be disheartening to buy a hive and the quality control is so poor it doesn’t fit together snugly. It must be disheartening, and costly, to Flow also.
Cheers