C'mon.....FlowHivers!

deleted because I replied to the wrong person

Is the other side of that frame capped as well? How can you tell?

Different Patrilines.
The queen mated with different drones and each droneā€™s sperm will produce bees that look similar to each other but different from another droneā€™s. It is becoming obvious that each of the lines may be better at performing functions in the hive than others. Hence, the more drones a queen mates with the more likely the colonyā€™s success. Each of these bees are more closely related to each other than to their mother, BTW

There is a little plastic nub on the tube which is supposed to stop the honey escaping into the hive when you drain the frames. When the end cap is put in I thought the honey was able to run down into the hive so the bees could lick it up. Have you asked the Flow Team why the caps leak? The ones on my Flow frames seem to be very tightā€¦especially when I twist them.
The photos are wonderfulā€¦keep them coming!

How about wrapping a little teflon tape around the sealing edge to make it fit just a little closer? Might be worth a try, and easy to take off if you donā€™t like it.

Dawn

thanks for that Jimmiā€¦ :slight_smile:

Hello Oatkir,
Im just a little curious as to why the spice jar you have next to the bucket you are collecting the honey into (in the picture). Are you adding anything to the honey to flavour it ? Or is it just in the picture accidentally, and unrelated ?

Good you know its working well for you.

@Mitch_G

Good spotting. Its cinnamon - to keep the ants away. Works quite well dusted on the outside of the hiveā€¦just have to keep reapplying once its washed away by rain etc.

1 Like

pffff cinnamon doesnt work for my ants. it might work for a specific type of ant but not all evidently!

Hey all. I posted a while back about my first harvest back in January which didnā€™t go so well as I lost a lot of honey out the bottom of the hive (maybe about half a kilo). My assumption on this is that if there are uncapped cells in the frame, when the frame is cracked open all in one shot there is a huge amount of honey (3kg+) pushing downward, into the channel, and when the honey flows and fills the bottom channel the honeyā€™s only other way out is through the uncapped cells. The spilled honey makes a huge amount of mess in the brood box as it drips all through the brood frames and that really stresses the bees out. Mine left the hive and bearded out the front for three or four days whilst they sorted out the mess.
I harvested today but this time, as suggested by @oatkir, I only opened up the frames about 1/5 at a time an hour or so apart. This way there is only a small amount of honey draining at a time and there isnā€™t the backfill that happens when itā€™s all done at once, leading to little or no spillage. It has taken half the day to fully empty the frames I opened, however there has been zero spillage and it has ended in much more honey this time (just over 3kg per frame). The bees are completely unperturbed by my presence and are already chewing back the capping and mending the cells. Very cool indeed.

5 Likes

Nice.
I would think once the frames are cracked open, some of the caps will get cracked open or fissures in the caps will develop and that could be why the leaks.

I love it when beekeepers are able to solve a problemā€¦that was keen observationā€¦Well Doneā€¦impressive.

All the caps on my Flow frames are loose - very loose. This did not concern me as I thought as long as the frames were not cracked to drain, there would be no problem. Is this assumption correct or do I need to take steps to try to tighten them?

Iā€™m not sure what you mean but if you ask the question of the Flow Teamā€¦Iā€™m sure you will get an answerā€¦then tell us too!
Ohā€¦I just realised you mean the end caps on the drain tube? Someone else had this problemā€¦it was suggested to use a little pipe tapeā€¦like you use on water pipes but I would contact the Flow Tean anyway as your caps may be too small. Or something.

The plugs that block the drains?

Iā€™m sorry Iā€™m not sure which caps you are referring to.
If you have a look at the manuals on this page - http://www.honeyflow.com/about-flow/flow-hive-assembly-modifications/p/142#a10 - you can email info@honeyflow.com with pictures, referring to the name in the manual and we will try and work out what the problem is.

You can also send a video if thatā€™s easier - then we can see what you mean.

I think they mean the caps on the flow end for the key and drainage. Yes?

On P6 of the Flow Frame Instruction Manual, Components of a Flow Hive, listed as component 17 - Honey Trough/Cap. The cap at the bottom of the Flows. So loose that several were scattered in the box on arrival, and they pretty much fall out by themselves. So - is this a problem? I did see a video in which someone was using a pliers to get them out of the Flow to harvest. The top operation caps fit snugly but come out easily without using force, so I am not concerned about those.

As long as they sit in there, I donā€™t see it as a problem. They just stop the honey draining out the front once you take the Flow Tubes out. If you look at the video below, Cedar just pulls the plug out very easily with his fingers, and pops it back in very easily.

The hive shouldnā€™t move once assembled, so I donā€™t see how they would fall out by themselves, but if they are literally falling out when the inserted in the Flow Frames and the hive is stationary then email us at faults@honeyflow.com and we will send you some replacements.

OK thanks then I was right, not a problem, and do not need to be tight. They only fall out when the Flow is moved.