Anyone build a hive from the book ? , bought the book and reading it over and was wondering if anyone out there had used it in the past
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No. I bought a kit from the local agricultral shop (not sure what you call it in English), where you buy animal feed etc. When I took it up to the guy who was selling me a swarm, he scoffed and said it was made in China and that the frames were rubbish because they didn’t have little seperating things and the frames weren’t quite the right size. I was gutted. I thought he was having me on, but now comparing the two, I can see a difference. My husband is a bit of a DIYer and has made the necessary alterations. But it would have been useful to know we were spending money unwisely and bought them from the expert. C’est la vie as we say here.
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I bought my first hive from a local beekeeper and it was great quality .but a bit pricey , not that I want to be cheap but would love to be able to build my own someday
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Hi,
I’m new to bees and considered building my own hive from plans. I’ve decided to start with a DIY kit first, however. I think ‘bee’ space is the crucial factor in building a hive. Get those gaps wrong and the bees with use propolis to glue it altogether.
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I’m taking the approach of linking up with local knowledge. Have attended the local amateur bee keepers association and am lucky to have a bee man in my local community. I think the best approach is - if possible - find a knowledgeable person and learn from them. That’s what us human’s have been doing for 1000’s of year before Google.
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sounds good, but practicaly not always avallable… I’ve faced resistance from old style bee keepers, when approach with Flow Hive idea… thats why I’ve a big hope for this forum.
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I had the same issue , in my area we have some beekeepers that are not very friendly , when I asked for some advice/lessons they kind of brushed me off and could care less to pass on the trade
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That is so sad as I’m learning that bees are or could become endangered!
What would life be with out honey??
We need to build the bee world not make out casts!
People become afraid of new things … But just think with out the net or the web you and I wouldn’t be able to chat and we may never have learned about these flow hives!
I don’t see any difference in the wood box and the flow hive except getting the honey out!
It’s still going to need cleaning I would think!
The rest is the same! Or am I wrong??
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definitely yes! but one of the difficult job (harvesting), become a pleasure now, I guess that’s why a lot of new beekeepers join in to flow hive community, and probably it is a reason why traditional style beekeepers defending their position, we are lazy boys in their eyes.
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Which book? I am planning on building my hive but was going to wait until my flow box arrived so that I can measure up correctly. I have a few rough plans but I don’t want to build it only to find that the flow box won’t go on top.
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A much better book (in my humble opinion) on building hives etc is:
Build your own Beekeeping Equipment.
Covers Langstroth 8 & 10 frame hives, top bar, nucs, and demo hives plus feeders, stands, swarm catchers.
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That’s book is pretty good , I had a look at it , I’m not much of a carpenter so the dummies book was great since it makes it very simple on how to make the cuts and takes you step by step but at the end of the day use what best suits you and what you are able to fallow
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Always a good idea if you are new to beekeeping to get some local knowledge. It can be a great opportunity to find out about the best equipment locally. As well as all the other intricacies of bee keeping in your region. It is a shame to see people being negative about it, change always bring strong opinions out. I think keep showing interest in learning from the old timers as they will have a lot of knowledge they can pass on, remember they don’t have to use the flow frames.
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Glad to know it’s not just my area! I asked for some beginner guides on the FB group of the beekeepers association in my state and they brushed me off and told me to go find a local group. I couldn’t find anything, and instead of being nice and giving me some contact info, I was told bluntly there were 2 near my city… Wow, really? Thanks for the help! ::eye roll::
Nothing changes, the bees need all the same care and maintenance with or without the Flow frames. Bees will be happy in a lot of different containers, be it wood, plastic, your house or the wheel well of a car. If you follow the Langstroth measurements for length & depth you can’t go wrong. Buy in some ready made frames so you get the measurements exactly right. Post if you need the measurements, there are lots of sources on the web and in some books.
I am in the same boat. Waiting for the box dimension of the flow boxes before I build the rest of my hive. I emailed about it but didn’t get the response about the thickness of the wood particularly as I guess the internal dimensions of a lanstroth is universal so the thickness of wood will determine the outside dimensions what other boxes to you would build. Flow team any further updates on the box dimension’s?
Sorry, we are still finalising the details of the boxes. We will make sure we update the FAQs once we have the details http://www.honeyflow.com/faqs/what-are-the-dimensions-of-the-flow-frames/p/70
Thanks for the update Jake. Still some time to go before Dec delivery and I have lots of reading to do in the meantime!
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How cool would it be to adapt a tree hollow for the flow frames? Like a maple tree with maple syrup, on tap ; -)
Am looking at using marine plywood for my hive build not sure about varnish though any thoughts from those that may be using alternatives to pine?