G’day I’m a “newBee”. I’m waiting with baited breath for my flow hives to arrive, I’ve done loads of reading, downloaded videos and even found some free eBooks at Amazon for kindle. Hope to join my local bee keepers soon in Solihull (UK). I will try to get on a beginners course but they are in January or so next year (2016).
I’m concerned I will not be very competent at constructing the hive when it arrives. Would it be possible for a video - step by step showing how to put together a hive be possible. I learn better by seeing and doing. Also if there are any trick, tips or pitfalls to avoid they would be most welcome.
A hive stand stand won’t be coming with the kit, however there are a thousand different methods to use for a stand and sometimes the most simple are the best. Just a couple of cinder blocks will do the trick otherwise a few bricks. Just to get the hive up off the ground to keep the rain and creepy crawlies out. Remember to tilt your hive forward so any rainwater can drain out the entrance.
Once we have the exact bee box the flow frames ship with; we will post videos and instruction manuals on the website. We will let everyone know by email.
Here are some more specific detail regarding the size and adaptability of the Flow™ frames, I thought you may find useful.
The Flow™ Frames are designed to fit a standard Langstroth deep box. The Flow™ boxes will have the same measurements to the Langstroth deep (8 or 10 frame boxes).
The height of the Flow™ frame is 240mm; this perfectly fits a Langstroth deep box.
The width of the clear fame ends is set to 50mm. The frames are wider which means they hold more honey and the deeper cells discourage the queen from laying should you choose to experiment with no excluder.
In an 8 frame Langstroth - 3 Flow™ frames and 4 standard frames fit well, or 6 Flow™ frames.
In a 10 frame Langstroth - 4 Flow™ frames and 4 standard frames fit well, or 7 Flow™ frames.
A UK National fits 8 shorter Flow™ frames however the depth of the UK National would need to be modified.
The length of the frame is adjustable. We will be posting them out at the standard Langstroth frame length of 480mm. You can however change their length in increments of 12mm by removing some of the frame parts. This means you can adapt the length of the frames to many different sized hives. Or if you want to get really creative you could make a 2m long frame to go in a wall cavity or make a short frame to insert into a hollow tree hive…
Hello Fellow Beeks,
I have been searching the website for information on what type of wood is used to build the Flow Hive but can’t find any. Some types of wood seem to last better/longer than others. I would like to know what I’m buying.
Thanks,
Milmel
It would also be nice to start seeing some of the Plans so we can start building our hive boxes in preparation of the frames arriving. I have a box ready to cut and build specifically for this project but i don’t have the dimensions needed for the cuts.
Some simple PDF plans would really help and give us something to keep ourselves busy without going crazy waiting for the new frames to arrive.
Hi US Aussie, There are some photos and instructions of modifications on the top bar hive too. Top Bar Hive Flow Forum
We are also working on more videos and will post as they come.
@andrea, again great info but i think most people are interested in knowing what the dimensions are for the most commonly brought perk in the indigogo fundraiser were, That being the 6 and 7 frame flow configurations. PDF’s a video anything would be useful. I would prefer to not have to wait until the frames get here THEN start work on the box. For the US these frames will arrive right at the end of the season so it will be a race to get them set up or hold on to them for additional months as we ride out the winter and wait for the first spring nectar flow to hit.
@US_Aussie I asked the same question. Jake form the honeyflow team reports they are still finalising the dimensions of the boxes and will update the FAQ once they have them. I would think soon enough considering the store is up and running now.
@noddyc43…see I have a problem with that response because we have been told everywhere else that the boxes are all standard size. We see all these images with the full flow configuration so why can’t some one simple take a ruler and go to a current box and say: opening at top of box 30mm deep by 200mm opening at bottom 200 mm centered by 70 mm deep etc etc.
At this point lack of very simple information like this is honestly starting to become a little unsettling.
Hi @US_Aussie, What configuration did you get? The most common perk has been the complete flow kit which comes with everything cut out and ready to go. But you are right a lot have got the 6 or 7 frame configurations
For the 10 frame box with the 7 frame kit
Top cut:
357mm wide X 25mm high
Bottom cut:
336mm wide X 150mm high
It looks like the full PDF with pictures and measurements is pretty much done. We want to make sure we are giving out the correct information, if boxes are cut out incorrectly it may be difficult to fix.
