Hi there. Is it possible that my bees don’t like the flow frames? I have 2 strong hives and the bees just will not use the flow frames. They wax them up - all ready but no go. This is year 2 and no honey.
Your description that the frames are waxed up (cells completed?) and still no honey makes me wonder if the nectar is just not plentiful enough. What does the brood box look like?
There are a number of threads about encouraging the bees to work the frames but that doesn’t seem to be your issue.
How are the stores in the brood box? The super is overflow. They will store close to the brood first. What is the density of bees like in the super?
Like this? Or sparse?
Lots and lots of brood in both boxes - and lots of honey.
The bees go up there - lots of activity - but no honey.
Yes - like that. Bees everywhere.
Last year same thing too. I am genuinely surprised each time I do an inspection to find no honey given the activity.
I do wonder about the nectar flow. I have 2 brood boxes for each hive - they are absolutely packed with bees to the point of no more room - so much brood - drone cells etc. But also lots of honey.
I compare my hives to a neighbour down the road - and we don’t seem to be doing any thing different with our beekeeping practice but she has lots of honey and I seem to have a lot more bees!
Its so weird!
I might take the flow frame super off one hive and replace with standard frames and see what happens perhaps.
Good idea. I run a single brood box. It’s worth considering that 2 brood boxes means more mouths to feed… with the other part of the equation being nectar availability… but generally the practice is to see what others are doing in the local area, if most are going 2 brood boxes, then that must be the practice in your area. Usually in the more cooler climates, it’s typical to see 2 brood boxes.
As Fred said, Jo, double brood boxes means more honey consumed by bees. Consider running singles. I run single 8F broods year round. There’s plenty of room for the queen to lay and they’ll produce more honey. Swarm management? Easy! Replace the queen every one or two years and cycle brood frames in spring. But that’s another story. Yes single brood boxes work in cold climates.
Even in cold places in North America people successfully overwinter singles and even nucs.
Hi. I hav the same
Problem. I was told. Different bees like and store honey in small cells. The flow hives use big size like deine size. NOT all beess like tis bi cell
Size. I think that is my and your problem. Our bees dont use or like big size cells for storage
Good day.
We had a similar problem initially…then we tried melting/rolling on some wax….still slow to take…then i got inspection from Ohio Dept Ag person…Im assuming everyone gets those too when register your hive(s) in your area …if not be aware its basically like turning down a free vet visit for your believed dog or cat. Anyway, our inspector (had never seen / heard of a Flow hive and he has commercial bees himself - 600 or so hives…very interested in what I even had) recommended we pour water / syrup mixture over the top of the frames…sure thing did that do the trick. (If you use any supplements like Honey B Healthy or whatever I’d leave that out…just sayin’)
Oh yeah register your hives and try to be there when inspector comes…great learning opportunity.
Hi Miamidood, I’ve never heard that bees would avoid storing nectar in cells because of their size. It’s my understanding and experience that they will use all available space and will build more if possible to store nectar in a good flow, with enough workers to bring it in.
It’s true that it can take time for a colony to reach a point of readiness and ability to store nectar in Flow frames, because:
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For new Flow frames, each and every cell must first be sealed and lengthened with wax to an even surface for capping. This takes a significant amount of nectar, workforce, and a period of time all by itself. It’s therefore common in many regions of the US for a new Flow super to need the first season it gets placed to be devoted to waxing, then nectar storage can commence right away the next season (given a healthy colony and good flow).
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A colony may not be populous enough to add storage in excess of what they will use for brood rearing. This ‘everyday’ food is kept in arcs above the brood nest for convenience, with backup supplies on the outer frames. There may be a booming nectar flow, but without enough workers there’s no way for a colony to keep up with it.
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A colony will prepare to swarm as they reach full capacity in the brood nest. Sometimes this is already in process by the time a beek puts on a super with high hopes! The queen switches to laying more drones, queen cells are built, the queen stops laying, and the workers backfill the brood nest with nectar as they gear up to send half their workers with the queen to find a new home and start a new colony. About half of the stored honey is carried off with those workers so they can build new wax for a home. Regular inspections are key to discerning when and how to pre-empt swarming so honey production can happen.
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Yes, the all-plastic matrix of Flow frames can be unfamiliar or less appealing to bees initially, which is why so many users spread beeswax or a bit of honey over them to make them more inviting. Plastic foundation has been used for decades, with no major issues. Another factor however is that as mentioned by @Dawn_SD and others, there are sadly many fakes out there, whose plastic is a much lower grade and apparently smell very bad to bees! So it’s important to avoid these, especially since they’re an infringement of Flow’s copyright!
I truly hope this helps - it would be sad to see you give up on your Flow hive based on not enough info or support
i have the same problem. In the hybred they use the normal langstroth frames but they aviod the plastic (the flow) frames