Hi, Im new to beekeeping and just a bit worried about the alignment of the frames in my flow super. The bees have already taken to it - so would prefer to know sooner rather than later if I need to change the frames? Ive put the key in the tops of all to make sure they are properly set, but still looks a bit wonky. Will this cause me issues, or is it okay to leave as is for the bees to wax up?
Thank you in advance
Regards
Chris
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By wonky do you mean the cells don’t appear to be closed? Is it the whole frame or just seen in a portion of the frame? I have heard of this happening sometimes, but certainly not often. The fix is to open and close the frame several times.
A photo would be a help so we can see what you are seeing, you can add a photo after you save it on your computer by clicking on the 7th icon from the left, the bar with the upward arrow then select the pic and upload it.
Might be worth saying where you live in Australia so that someone who knows Flow Hives and in your area might offer to have a look. I’m at Coolum Beach on the Sunshine Coast. Maybe also check out your local bee group for someone who has a Flow Hive who might have a look with you.
Welcome to the forum Chris, you will find it full of fiendly people happy to help with advice. Cheers
Thanks so much Peter. Posted the pic up above.
That is aligned in the closed position Chris, each cell is split vertically and the bees will fill in the gaps with bees wax before they begin storing honey in them. have you brushed on some melted bees wax over the ends of the cells so the bees will be attracted to the comb and use if to fill in the gaps. That will really get the girls busy in preparing the Flow frames. Plastic isn’t something that gets them interested even if it looks like honey comb. The smell on bees wax and it being on the comb will work wonders and get them sealing up the cells much quicker than leaving it ‘in the raw’. The pic is excellent.
Cheers
Oh phew. Thanks so much Peter. We only put the flow super on yesterday and we did smear some comb on the inside and outside super to get them interested. Today they are definitely showing their interest.
I was sitting beside the hive watching them work to clean up the smeared comb when I suddenly realised that the frames seemed out of whack. Thought it better to address now, rather then when they are full of honey 
They are already into the centre of the frame in addition to the window frame 
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I brushed on melted wax on both of the faces of all of the frames. Doing that will get the bees accepting all of the frames quicker. As an experiment when I first got my first of my Flow Hives I left a half of the length on one frame unwaxed and after 6 weeks there was honey everywhere except for that 1/2 frame so it is definitely worth doing. They need to make a lot of wax to fill the cell gaps so that means time and honey to produce the wax. Cheers
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Thank you for the tip. Silly question perhaps, but where do I get the wax to melt to be abke to brush it onto the frames. I had smushed some wax from their comb in the super below… would this work, or do I liberally need to lightly coat both sides of each frame?
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Chris, no question is silly, ok. As you only have one hive you will probably find enough bur comb on the QX and on the brood frames to scrape off, sometimes you will find some in the roof as well. It doesn’t take a lot of wax to do the job. It doesn’t need to be cleaned wax, as it comes is just fine. Use a scroungy old paint brush to brush it onto the frames. Wash it with some dish washing soap before you use it. The brush will be good for nothing afterwards so don’t go and buy a new one.
Where are you located?
Cheers
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Bummer, I.scraped a tonne of but comb off the lid on Saturday when we put on the super. I’m in Sydney.
So if I scrape of some more but comb, presume I just microwave it to melt before painting? Am I aiming to cover the entire frame front and back?
Don’t ever throw wax away Chris, it is worth twice as much as honey by the kilo.
You can microwave it but only till it has melted, if you do it too long it will boil and ‘splatter’. I have found for best results you ‘paint’ all the cells on both sides of each frame, the bees will work the wax to seal up the gaps that you brush on but they won’t go looking for more elsewhere in the hive. They will want more but they will make new wax which takes time. Maybe you know another bee keeper who has some wax to spare that you can buy. It need regularly reheating as it will set quickly at room temperatures.
Thank you so much for the tip Peter. I will see if I can get some comb and do this.
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Just found that my local beekeeping supplier sells 100% wax. Do you think 1kg would be be enough to do the trick, or would I need more?
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A kg is way more than you need, but it never goes stale like bread, but I’m thinking about 300 gms would do the job so you will still have some to do your next Flow Hive 
Oh, didn’t you know that you would soon want to do a split and have a second hive !!! Bee keeping is really addictive 
Oh I’m already thinking about the split and my next flow
I am loving the world of bees. It’s fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable.
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I have two guys in Sydney I mentor by email and planning a trip down to visit my brother at Mittagong and and catch up with them also, Newtown and Coogee. I have been mentoring them for about 9 months now and both were total beginners but have now done splits and doing well.
Bugger I’m over 1000 klms away but they are doing well with photos and emails.
Cheers
Peter
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I differ from @Peter48, in that I never melt wax to paint the Flow frames. I save myself time, effort and mess! 
I just smush it on like you did. It has worked brilliantly every time. Peter’s way works, but it isn’t the only way. The best way is whatever works for you! From your photo, it looks like your method was very successful. I would stick with the simple way. 
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Hi Dawn, thanks for your response. Yes, the bur comb I had already smeared up there definitely got them interested. The attached pic is on one of the middle frames.
I had read of people’s experiences where the bees had not touched the flow frames for months, and some not at all. This pic was taken one day after we put on the flow super - so hopefully the trend to go to up there gets around the hive?
They are an incredible bunch. There must be a massive nectar flow on here at the moment as they drew out an entire 8 frame in less than a week. The population was increasing so much, I was worried about them swarming because they didn’t have enough space.
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Looks great! Welcome to the flow hive community!
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Thanks so much Martha.
I certainly wasn’t saying it was the only way Dawn, but I experimented with how I got the best results with the bees working on the comb the quickest and for me it works the best, It can be a bit messy so best to spread a sheet of newspaper, but worth the extra effort in my opinion. There can be more than one right way to get the same end result. If you are messy the newspaper makes a great fire starter in the smoker.
Cheers