I put on the Flow supers last weekend, both have brand new frames. I didn’t inspect today, but I opened the rear door, and found bees in the bottom channel of one of the frames.
I am pretty sure that I checked that all the frames were in the closed position, and I checked more than once.
I don’t have time today and is going to be difficult to inspect during this week (I’m away during daylight hours).
Any idea what the issue might be?
I had that problem and it was a hole in the bottom of one frame that allowed them up and in.
Thanks Tim. I’m pretty sure I didn’t see any holes in the bottom though.
It’s just bad timing for me to go back and inspect. I might have to take a day off work as I want to sort this out before the bees start filling, and it is one of the middle frames.
Haven’t seen this myself… didn’t think it was possible - but guess not.
Must be those loose wires 
Did you just open the drain hole and back cover hoping they evacuate?
Seeing that you’ve only just put it on. Cracking them open and resetting wouldn’t hurt or set them back that much…
Pictures or it didn’t happen 
I didn’t believe it was a hole either until Flow asked me to be certain— and just like you, the middle frame had a small chunk of the plastic cracked off in about the middle of the frame bottom. Flow shipped me a replacement which was kind of them. I live in Canada so receiving it took weeks. If you find a hold the best interim thing to do is apply duct tape (something similar that is strong) over the hole until you have a replacement on hand. Just be prepared in case you do find the hole is all I’m suggesting.
It would seem extreme to take a day off work. Can you see through the rear viewing screen if the cells are aligned? If so, no honey should get into the channel. If it did before slowly leaking onto the brood, I’m sure the bees would progressively clean it up.
Hi Fred I don’t want to reset with bees in there, if that is the issue (which I’m hoping it is).
I’ll have another look, and take a photo this morning before I leave for work. The cells seemed aligned though when I checked. Still- with the frame in the open position, can bees end up in the channel?
@Wandjina that doesn’t sound right - I’d contact info@honeyflow.com (please include a photo) so they can rectify this for you.
@Tim_Purdie I’m sorry to hear about your slow replacement. We have a warehouse in Mississauga Canada and usually deliver the frames direct from there, so I am not sure what caused the hold up, but I apologise for the inconvenience that must have caused.
Hey Freebs, do you have an idea what the issue might be? I see that Tim Purdie had a broken part, but mine were pretty solid before I put them in (apart from loose wires which I fixed)
It is going to be difficult to inspect this week because of work… but I’ll email Kieran.
Hi @Wandjina,
I can’t tell from your photos but will get Kieran and Bianca on the case pronto.
Could you please PM me with your account details? Order number would be ideal, but otherwise the name and email address used to place the order?
Cheers 
Just an update on this, as I haven’t received any reply yet from @KieranPI
I just had to open the hive and have a look before I leave.
The bees are already filling this frame with honey, and I think I found where the bees are accessing the bottom channel.
Apologies for the photo, which is rather useless. I was really in a huury and couldn’t see the phone screen with the sun.
It looks like there is a gap or hole on one of the vertical plastic cells, just at the bottom where it meets the channel, and it is definitely big enough for a bee to go through. Sorry again, photo is no good.
I will look at this now. Thank you for tagging me. Being a Monday, tasks can be a bit piled up when not working weekends.
I mean, it is really tricky to tell as the colours blend together a little, but is the Flow Frame cell column missing the lowermost portion? Or has this bent internally?
Please email faults@honeyflow.com, let’s discuss personal details to resolve what is occurring.
Thanks Kieran, I fully understand of course!! No complaints about your customer service.
Against the sun I could see a gap at the bottom of one of those vertical bits. I have no clue whether it is bent or missing. If it is bent, would it be obvious?
If I can get some advice on how to remedy as a short term solution (and for others that may be unfortunate to encounter same issue), it would be great.
It may have slipped out of alignment internally and become jammed, this can occur from bumps in transit.
Cedar has a fix here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7fjMK7XqBg
I can’t be confident this has occurred, and the video shows a recreation, often it is more subtle and not noticeable from the outside, but the fix should work. Alternatively, a quick temporary fix is to push a clump of wax into this portion of the Flow Frame.
Ok thanks Kieran. From what I saw it looks like this bottom bit is missing. I can’t see how that gets bent cleanly without causing any other issues within the frame. I’ll have a closer look when I get some time to confirm but it is going to be tricky with uncapped honey in the cells.
Okay now… I believe ya!
I reckon you could leave the end cap and panel off, then whatever draught getting into the hive through the channel may hopefully get the bees to propolise it up (or you could assist them with Kieran’s suggestion).
Given the amount of work done by the bees, it would be a shame to reset them. But my experience is that it doesn’t matter when you crack the frames with bees in them. The cells in the open position don’t crush the bees - it’s in fact evident by the small gap that they’ve been able to go through.
Good luck Olly 
Would you be able to remove the frame before shaking the bees off, then reset it knowing there is no bees to worry about?
I am going to leave it for now and plug the hole with a chunk of wax as Kieran said. It is too much hassle to try to sort it with honey in the frame.
Once I harvest, I’ll pull the frame apart and see.
