OK so the hive monitor sounds OK- but what’s with the fake Flow Frames??
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Hey Jack, A good eye on picking that up mate. I wonder what percentage of ‘genuine Flow Hives’ are compared to the “copy cat Chinese junk hives” are in use by people who thought they were getting a genuine Flow Hive.
Cheers
As far as I have seen- the fake frames do not work very well. Very little evidence of them actually working for anyone on youtube and the like. What’s really cheeky about this CNN article is that it seems this fellow has showed off his fake Chinese made flow hive at an African Technology expo- as if he invented it and it was part of his hive sensor system. He even used the Flow name: Honeyflow Africa… And CNN just reported it all as if it was fact.
Yes Jack, as a certain D. Trump says, constantly, “it is fake news” and CNN didn’t bother to check for facts.
I have been getting a few phone calls from a lady talking bees and just starting into it. I decided to have a look at her 2 Flow hives to give her some reassurance that all was going well.
She was surprised that I was able to tell her she bought them on EBay. The QX was the give away, made of thin slivers of bamboo and glues together. I found two box sides of the 16 that didn’t have t timber knot in it. She was still so sure they were the genuine Flow articles that I took her to my apiary and opened up one of my Flow Hives. That brought reality home to her. She had been tricked into buying nothing but garbage.
Regards
Oh dear, I will have to let the legal team know about this 
Thanks Jack.
Poor lady @Peter48, I guess the only thing she can do is report her purchase to eBay and see if she can get a refund. It’s unfortunate and sad because, in this circumstance and many others, people think they are getting the genuine thing, and they unknowingly purchase a fake.
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Yeah well, recently a bloke bought a colony for a flow hive he was given for Christmas. Wilma told him what to bring. The bottom board, brood box, crown board, plus some wooden frames to fill the gap. He said “it didn’t come with a crown board or wooden frames”. Wilma said “are you sure it’s a genuine flow hive & not a fake flow hive”. He said “it cost a lot of money, it must be a genuine flow hive”. As it turned out, it was a fake flow hive.
The absence of wooden brood frames & a crown board is a dead give-away.
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The article only really talks about the BuzzBox, but by mostly featuring pictures of the fake hive could also smear BuzzBox. I ordered a couple in their last crowdfund campaign, should have them next month. Should be a fun Technology to explore.
they also used the name ‘honeyflow africa’ which is a bit dodgy?
Yes, definitely. I’m sure Flow Hive’s legal team will pounce on it. I wouldn’t be surprised if the dodgy product has been presented as legit to the unsuspecting entrepreneur. If so, there may be an opportunity for Flow Hive to be involved in the venture and open up that market. The trouble with developing nations is they don’t necessarily see counterfeiting as an issue.
At least the BuzzBox looks genuine.