Bees using Flow frames

Hi all, I am the proud owner of 2 flow hives, the flow supers are currently on and I am intrigued by the way the bees are filling them. Hive 1 fills the frames in the middle while hive 2 has been filling from one end (end at the hive entrance). Has anyone found this? Here is a photo of my hive 2.

4 Likes

Are your frames properly closed on the right hand side? They look to have a bigger gap in the cells - I wonder if that’s the reason they haven’t filled there yet, because they need to plug up the holes.

I rolled wax onto mine with a paint roller and found the progression was the bees filling the little gaps I’m the cell across most of the frame, and then honey across large areas, and then capping. The second and third phases were quite widespread.

2 Likes

@Nathan_Brisbane thanks for the advice, I think it is a camera lens error as all the frames were adjusted and aligned properly before installing. The super has only been on since 1/1/22, this hive swarmed on 20/12 and I reintroduced the small swarm and queen back into the hive on 21/12 using the newspaper method. So I am very pleased to see that the hive is strong and now filling the flow super :slight_smile:

1 Like

That looks fab! I spend many a minute peering down the little spaces between frames avidly waiting for first signs of honey :slight_smile: The honey super has only been on for a week - so there’s much wishful thinking involved.

1 Like

@ClaireO like you I have been peering through the windows at the back and sides of the hive only to see nothing, as they have starting filling the flow frames at the other end and in the middle :wink: It wasn’t until I opened the hive up and looked at the frames from the top that I realised that they had starting filling the frames :grinning:

1 Like

I need little encouragement to take a peek :slight_smile: I am trying to reign in my enthusiasm for my little buzzy friends though and give them a chance to get going. I am going to have a wee look this weekend coming as they’re incredibly busy girls in and out. In their peak hours I have a couple of hundred of bees coming and going a minute now.

3 Likes

Hi there as @Nathan_Brisbane mentioned the cells appeared to be open on the right hand side. Even with the camera angle you should not see a large gap in the the joint. Regardless just put the key all the way in the close position and rotate it a few times to be absolute sure.
Good luck

I have a basic question about the plastic honey flow frames. Even after the cells are in the closed position, it still looks like a small crack is there (where the two side meet). How do the bees fill those cells with out nectar escaping through the cracks? If you look at the lower left hand corner of the attached photo, you’ll see what I’m describing.

I have lots of bees in between the honey frames, all of them moving around and looking busy, but after 2-3 weeks I’m not finding any capped honey. Just lots of bees.
Any thoughts?

They will wax the gaps on the side and back of the cells when they are getting ready to fill. Those cracks will crack again when you harvest and the bees will repair before refilling.

Also, they will fill the bottom of the center frame first and work outward (although sometimes leave an unfilled arc at the center) so you may need to pull out a frame near the middle to see if they are working them in earnest. Or you can periodically weigh the hive to see if they’re gaining.

1 Like

Excellent. Thanks for the reassurance Chau06.

2 Likes