Is the Flow Hive 2 formatted on an 8 frame Langstroth or 10 frame? Thanks
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Hi,
The Flow Hive 2 that we have for pre-sale now has 6 Flow Frames in the Super, and 8 wooden frames in the brood box, same dimensions as a Lanagstroth 8 deep beehive.
Below is a picture of all the components included with the Flow Hive 2 
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Hello Christiania, Faroe has answered your question but let me add that I used to have 10 frame hives before flow hives came along but now as I am 70 years young I have now gone to 8 frame hives because they are lighter to lift and move.
Going with Flow Hives does not mean you will not have to maintain the colony of bees and do regular inspections to keep the hive strong.
Welcome to the forum, there is lots of help from nice people to answer your questions and if the answer makes sense and is a help tick the heart so that we know that we have helped.
Cheers
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I can’t wait until mine arrives! Whoop!
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I assembled my new flow hive 2 yesterday. It’s truly beautiful.
It’s even packed beautifully, with flow related print on recycled packing paper and no more plastic strapping that edges into the timber.
Everything is treated with respect. As a costumer, I feel treated with respect as well.
@Martha , you will love it!
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What kind of costume? 
Dressed as a queen bee, I hope. 
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Aww. Actually took me 2 seconds to understand why you are laughing. It shows English is my third language.
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Sorry for my wicked sense of humour, but you bring joy to my day when it has otherwise been difficult. 
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I just LOL’d…
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That’s really great to hear 
Thank you for sharing your feedback. We would love to see some photos as well once it’s up and running in your apiary.
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I’m so excited for you! Mines coming in October
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I hope I can get the stand for my other 2 flow hives. The whole thing excites me. The grips on the brood boxes are an exciting feature for me cuz those boxes get heavy! And I love looking in the observation windows.
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Yes, I really like the 2 windows on the sides. Flow frame # 6 is the most mysterious always. Not any longer.
The grips grip just as well as the old ones I think, one drawback may be that grips are not on all sides any more. Might get awkward if you need to grab your box from another position.
If you get the entire new Hive stand with the adjustable feet and all, you don’t need your old bottom board any more (keep for splits or swarms).
I guess the hivestand is compatible with the old boxes. But not sure. Will try tomorrow up in my bee lab and let you know. Have an extra couple of old sets ready for spring, so can size them up.
Unless the box sizes changed a lot, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Not long now @Martha. If your parcel is packed like ours, you gonna feel the Aussie love.
Still tung oiling my cedar flow 2 and it’s not set up yet, but I reckon that hive stand is well worth it.
Against ants, you just smear some old grease round the windings of the adjustable metal legs. All is real good quality.
To add: those little flow brass knobs are just the kiss on the project.
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Yes the brass won’t swell up in the rain and crack when pulling of stuck items. I look forward to bringing up my original hives with stand purchases when the become available. The old stands work on my non flow brood boxes though proposed challenges for me as I had to buy additional stands for winterization. The screened bottom board would have my bees frozen. The new stand looks like winterization can be done with burlap or wood chips to reduce space the bees need to keep warm without the icy winds leaking into the hives.
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Looking to understand the exact height of the entrance, wanting to get a entrance feeder and needing to know what will slide in.
Actually I want to make my own since I am purchasing 12 hives. Is it within this forum post? Reading through it. I’m not seeing anything. If so just please point me to it.
Hi Marty,
Entrance opening measures at:
298mm x 15mm the Flow Hive 2 Araucaria 7
245mm x 15mm the Flow Hive 2 Araucaria/Cedar 6
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Thank you very much. 15 mm is what I was looking for. Just needing to know the height in which to cut the wood, likely going to make my own entrance feeder.
Marty
It’s a tapered entrance though isn’t it Faroe?
@Martydallas, I used entrance feeders when I began keeping bees but found it caused robbing issues. I’ll not use them again. Why not use bag or bucket feeders instead?
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This makes my fourth year and I’ve had several hives next to each other. I have not experienced any robbing at all. I like the ease and look of the Boardman feeder. Do not like the bag or bucket.
I’ll send a photograph of my set up later this year, but essentially what I’ve got is:
- The entrance reducer on, year-round with about four or 5 inches starting from the left-hand side open
- Then the entrance reducer taking up the space. Starting their going all the way to the feeder.
- The feeder is pushed all the way against the right hand side.
This essentially makes the Boardman feeder inside the hive.
And truly not feeding all that much. I have not had to feed any over the winter. The only time I feed is in the early spring when I know they are building up a lot of comb real quick.
My first year, I did feed several times throughout the winter. But that’s before I knew how much honey I need to leave them. I do also make my own candy blocks with pollen and such in them and only feed them that when necessary
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I’m not quite sure what you mean by “tapered”? Do you mean smaller at the sides?
The landing board has a slight angle but looks to be the same height across the whole front.
Here is a picture:
