FLOW design aids SHB

The really dark stain on the left has lots of the cells out of alignment and the stain ends when the closed cells begin, but that dark lower section on the right seems perfectly aligned even when zoomed in on the frame. It has me stumped.
Cheers mate

I looked at that also. It’s on the end where the key goes in. So those cells should be fully aligned properly for the rest to be aligned. Especially seeing as we harvested the honey in increments.

The flow frames I inspected 3 weeks ago had the exact dark stain on one end, completely void of honey, with the only 6 beetles we saw in the whole hive hiding there. The rest of that frame was chock-a-block & fully capped.

I told the folks who picked up their bees for the Flow2 that I thought flow frames should be harvested away from the hive. That was after showing them my stained frame & @Heron’s photo in answering their questions on SHB management.

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As mentioned those few rows look to be out of alignment.I always operate the key 6 or more times and move the key from one side to another. If I find it is difficult when opening I use two keys to spread the load, particularly when it is colder.
The issue is the plastic in the key area bows but this is more likely when opening the cells but I guess could happen if the cells bind when closing. I also slide the key in and out to see if it jumps or grabs to confirm all cells are reset.
Haven’t seen this on any of flowframes.

Hi Gary, I noticed those cells were out of alignment after uploading the photos. I just now inspected the other 5 frames to discover some were out of alignment, but not as bad as the ones in the photo.

Some bees must have been in the cells at the point of harvest & got squashed, therefore giving beetles a chance to lay eggs in the dead bees. That would explain the dark stain. Maybe the flow team has a different explanation, cheers.

PS. only one key came with the hive.

PPS @Gaz, Wilma grabbed the key, then started turning the mechanism. As it turned out, it’s only one row that’s out of alignment. When we open the frame, that row is lined up, while all the rest are out of alignment. Everything moves, it’s just that one must have been assembled the wrong way.

Hi Jeff, very strange how that can happen, I have one new spare and have been playing around with it. You can reach in the flow channel with your finger or a tool and actually push up any section (every second section moves), but there is always a space to push it down again with the flow key in the top channel.
We have accumulated a few keys from 3 puchases.

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Hello - I’ve been bee keeping for 10 days now in the inner west of Sydney and was surprised to find SHB in my Flow Hive at my first inspection a week after installing the nucleus. I only saw 4 and promptly squashed them and removed all dead bees that I could find. I made a trap from a piece of vinyl table cloth stuck to the corflute slider, fluffy side up, but I observed today that it hasn’t worked - a beetle just walked over it after the bees chased it down and dropped it through the screen. I grabbed an old cooking tray and have filled it with waste vegetable oil and slid that under the hive in place of the corflute. My hope is the bees will chase the SHB into that and they’ll drown. Is this worth a go or am I on the wrong track? I will also make a fly trap as per the video above.

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keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t drown a lot of bees too.

we don’t yet have beetles thankfully- but JeffH’s expert advice would be not to worry and keep the hives strong. He’d likely recommend using foundation, and having a solid base for your hive…

Hi Ethan,

Have you installed the nuc in your brood box and left the Flow Super off for now?

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Hi @Faroe - Yes, it was a 5-frame nucleus in a 10 frame brood box. The flow super is off for now. I had it on for 1 day (about day 8 after nuc install) and realised it was not a good idea at this early stage and took it off this morning. I’ll wait until the bees have filled out the brood box before re-installing.

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SHB is a fact of life in bee keeping on Australia’s East Coast but if the hive is healthy and strong the bees will control their numbers. Beware the tray of cooking oil, it will also drown your bees that can get down to the slide out board. So I wouldn’t go down that track. I just do weekly inspections of the supers and each 2 weeks do a full hive inspection ans squash any SHB that I can beat the bees to.
SHB breed in the soil around and under the hive where they lay their eggs, I mix one cup of white cleaning vinegar, one cup of table salt in 10 litres of water and use a watering can to drench down around and under the hives, it then kills the burrowing SHB and kills weed growth but does no harm to the bees.
Welcome to the forum.
Regards

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I’ve seen some successful oil traps on the forum. And the bees should not be able to get in there and drown. That is a different issue.

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I’ve noticed that too and it really chaps my fanny. This dang beetles get everywhere.

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Hi Peter does that help reduce ants as well?
One thing about the flowhive there are lots of places for ants to lay their eggs.
I hope you are feeling better and fully recovered.
Regards
Gaz

I’m not sure about a vinegar and salt solution to control ants, I just use ant kill dust sprinkled where any ant trail or nest is found and it is ignored by the bees, it sure knocks the ants for a 6 thou.
I back and firing on 7 cylinder for a V8 and getting better every day mate.
Cheers

Glad to hear to that. I was afraid to use any ant kill as I was worried about the bees landing in it and spreading it.
Thanks

Hi there, what are these traps you hang in upper roof area?
What mesh# should I have in bottom and how can I verify what I currently have?( I’m wondering what the difference is in one size grid size to another?)

Just to be clear, I don’t hang them in the roof. They hang between the highest frames in the hive. One per hive unless the infestation is dire. These are the ones:

You would have to ask @Faroe or somebody at Flow, using your order number for the mesh size info. I don’t work for Flow, so I don’t know what you have. :blush:

Ok, I asked her in a PM…
What are the benefits of the different lower grid size#'s?

Hiya Hunt, bees can occasionally get through the larger mesh size, which some bottom boards have, I guess because it’s a cheaper grade.

Most US manufacturers use #8 mesh (3mm grid) in SBBs. This mesh is large enough to let SHB larvae drop through, but too small for robbing bees and other pests to use as a hive entrance. Flow decided to use #7 mesh (3.6mm grid) to allow really fat SHB to drop through.

While apparently a really good idea, as @Eva said, the earlier meshes were not very high quality and definitely not ‘welded’. They were therefore prone to stretching and distortion, both in shipping, and over time on the hive. Mine is so distorted now that is just about useless, and I leave the coreflute slider in the upper slot all of the time. If I didn’t, bees would definitely use it as an entrance, and I suspect that adult SHB could too.

My understanding is that the Flow hive 2 has a “back” to the SBB, which effectively closes it to the outside world. This would solve the invader problem. I don’t what size mesh they use now, but I understand that they have gone with a much higher quality material.

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