Thank you Cedar, Stu and all the Flow team. Thank you for my upgrade.
Well worth the wait, Love the Logos, and extra commemorative Tags, Hats, and SBB (Screened Bottom Board)
7 Likes
Thats exciting i have 6 flow frames in a lang . but i am busting for December for my 3 complete hives to come. well you will be busy next few days setting up.
Cheers
2 Likes
I can feel your excitement from here! So glad to see your Flows arrived safely…they look great. Next Beekeeping year is going to be exciting!
2 Likes
@Horsehillhoney Thank missy, I’m finishing work for the 3 1/2 week stint live in so I can build today - ran out of time yesterday - had to go buy a drill/screwdriver
Awesome Valli, thanks for the video. I know how excited you must be, I can’t wait for ours to arrive in December.
1 Like
Filmed the assembly but the video stopped before I finished the brood box. All went well I wish I had a work bench but it was OK assembling on my knee.
If I can do it anyone can.
Will film the second box all the way through on Monday, and hopefully check I got all the bits
4 Likes
Full Flow Hive Assembled
6 Likes
Looks great! Except the shingles appear to be up-side-down! I’d reverse them for rain run-off.
1 Like
Yes I need to re-do that - I’m no carpenter so I think I did well
1 Like
I had visions of you screwing the hive body to your leg! Do you have a patio table? If so you could use that. Exciting isn’t it?
1 Like
No all good - Been away all weekend in York at my niece’s 21st do at Betty’s.
Need to get green house converted into Bee shed - still got more jungle to clear - hope the weather holds out now I’m home.
Hi Valli, I always enjoy reading your post. What is the screened bottom board for? I only ask because I have received my flow frames that I put into my own langsdroth type super box. It has been set up for 3 weeks now and my girls are working away filling the flows. Super exciting. I made a screened bottom board with a tray underneath filled with oil to catch the nasty beatles…so I am wondering if that is what yours is for?
Once yours is all set up, how often are you going to check your brood box ect.? Or how often do you check Queenies progress?
1 Like
G’day @Gekoski. We are going into winter here now our girls are slowing up. Although saying that we have had better weather recently than our summer and the girls are bringing in tons of Pollen, Go figure!
Here in the UK, the USA and various other places we have Varroa Destructor (varroa mite) they cause quite a bit of disease and left unchecked can see off a weak hive.
The idea of the SBB (Screened Bottom Board) is the varroa when dislodged will fall thought the screen and unable to reattach to the bees, The screen is too small for the bees they just walk across it.
Some Beeks, myself included oil the Correx (Brand name for the board that comes with the screen) US have another name I can’t remember, The oil pretty much kills off the mites and they stick to it. In Autumn and Winter beeks here tend to “Treat” for varroa to keep the numbers down they will then not have a chance to multiply in winter when the hive is pretty much inactive.
Some Beeks like the SBB as it adds ventilation as well helping to keep condensation down. Hope that answers your questions
2 Likes
One of the problems of an international forum is the use, or misuse, of terms used in different countries.
In the UK, what elsewhere is called a Screened Bottom Board is known as an Open Mesh Floor (OMF). If you spoke to a beek in the UK about an SBB, you would not be understood.
Research has been done in the UK to translate the “Natural Mite Drop” as monitored by the board (I call it the monitoring board) under the OMF. The National Bee Unit in the UK has an on-line program that calculates the number of mites in a colony based on the natural mite drop - see http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/public/BeeDiseases/varroaCalculator.cfm
This form of monitoring is not infallible as the numbers tend to have significant peaks and troughs so monitoring for at least 7 days is advised. Sugar-rolling and alcohol wash are alternative methods of monitoring but again, the result is based on a small sample so a uniform system of doing these processes is important. For instance there can a worthwhile discussion about where in the hive you take your sample - super or brood box?
All the best
CVB
1 Like
@charlievictorbravo I am in the UK I must admit to me it is mainly a SBB But I have heard OMF Used.
Because I have got so used to “Speaking 3 Languages” ('strine, pom and 'mercan) and the spellings - which I have not cracked for all 3 and occasionally throw in some French just to really mix it up, I assimilate all derivations but thank you for the reminder - I will sometimes answer in French at work so Hey!
Natural mite drop is a poor indicator of mite load so please please do not rely on it. As you say a better measurement is by sugar rolling a sample (usually 300 or so) of bees preferably from the brood box (no queen!).
I have had a low mite drop then 2 thousand over a 2 week oxalic sublimation course.
It is important to have a decent distance between inspection board and OMF, some hives, notably the one produced by Paynes are inadequate in this respect and need some tinkering with.
1 Like
Well I never!
My daughter’s local deli owner has a flow hive (brood box and one box of flow frames to go on top) on order.
He is in the middle of London and reckoned he could keep his colony on his shop flat roof, tap the honey and sell it in his shop; wonderful idea.
Even more wonderful, for me, is that he has been to a couple of BKA lessons and discovered to his horror that he actually has to look at his bees and consequently has decided to scrap the idea. My daughter jumped straight in telling him about my beekeeping escapades in various parts of the country and for £200 I have his set up. I couldn’t resist it so now I can join the novices here because I haven’t a clue what to do with it. I am going for a walk through this section of the forum and will be back with some questions.
What on earth have I done? I haven’t even any Lang kit? How am I going to hide yet another hive from husband?
2 Likes
Welcome to the Hive of Activity!!
Dee you can make National into Langs quite cheaply and easily.
Go to B&Q or similar and they do 1" wide laths about 2-3m long - Cut them to length of Langs and tie the strips to the tops of the nationals (Or similar).
Can be tied with wire, cable ties are good, trim the when tight, elastic bands, String - temporary.
Then when you do buy Langs at least you have an interchangeable method that is useable
LMAO. ; -D
It’s insidious, isn’t it?
1 Like
I don’t understand. National top bars are 17 inch Lang 19 how can you make a small box into a bigger one or do you mean extend the nat top bar so that it sits in a Lang box? I’m on 14 x 12 so my frames are too deep to fit in a jumbo Lang. I will shook swarm a colony into a new box in the spring buy a poly Lang in the winter sales as a spare and move both to my out apiary. The brood can be redistributed to the other colonies.