Flow hive frames opening and closing

I had a big infestation of ants into my Flow Hive super so I removed it for cleaning. Hard to get wax off but did what I could and figured the bees would clean it up. For a while before I took it off I had noticed frames not properly opening or closing in some sections of each frame. After the clean up the same problem still exists - any ideas welcome please?

I think you mean cells on the frame not setting correctly.
Sounds like something fouling the mechanism, are the top keyholes visibly clear? photos will help.
From memory you have had to clean the frames in the past for some reason? Have you had the Fframes apart?

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Hey @eurekawoman are you sure the stuff is wax, not propolis gumming up the works?

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Hello all. I’m having problems with closing the frames backup after extraction. They don’t change, meaning the holes aren’t long up. This is the first time we have used them, have never taken apart and we’re closed at set-up. See pics please

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Did you put the Flow key into the upper slot? I have put it into the wrong slot before, and wondered why it wasn’t working… :blush:

Yes, I have put it below and then above and turned the key. That’s what I am showing in two of the pics.

There’s no change, it does a lot of creaking but the holes don’t line up. :woman_shrugging:t3:

One thing that might help would be to put a frame in the freezer for a few hours, then try again. Freezing makes the wax much more brittle. I would then tap the frame with the cells facing down (both sides), so that any loose wax can fall out of the mechanism and try again. Otherwise you may need to disassemble - not a big deal, just a bit of a pain.

You could also send your photos to info@honeyflow.com and ask their advice, unless @Freebee2 has any better ideas…

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Thanks I’ll give it a try. And send to the address you mentioned :+1:t2:

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Using a second key side-by-side can help if the frame is reluctant to open or close, a second key eliminates the frame flexing and twisting. I had to invest in buying a second key about 6 months ago but till I got the second key sometimes opening and closing the frame several times did the trick.
Cheers

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Your profile says you have 4 flow hives, didn’t they all come with keys?

Email would be perfect, thanks @Dawn_SDfor tagging me :slight_smile:

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Why not suggest a solution here so that anyone with a similar problem can learn something??

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Yes, they all came with keys. But I’m not renowned as a tidy person and when I can’t find something quickly I give up and buy another. I have several boxes of bee keeping odds and ends. I have been like that all my life,
Last week I was removing conventional frames to bring home for extracting and thought I had misplaced my hive tool. Looked for at least 10 minutes then realized it was in my hand all the time. Most embarrassing. :face_with_raised_eyebrow: :woozy_face:
One day I will find where I put the other keys for safe keeping…
Cheers

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Recently I did better than that. I was looking for my safety glasses everywhere not realising that I already had them on… :roll_eyes:

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Hi @Honeyeater
Thanks for the suggestion, there are a couple of reasons it tends to work better to trouble shoot any issues directly, mainly it’s so we have access to the full account history including any previous issues, product types, location, communication history, etc. that we need in order to solve the issue effectively and with minimal confusion or aggravation. In addition, it can be confusing to post publicly about issues that might not affect many people, or where others might have a seemingly similar but unrelated problem, or the circumstances are very dependent on local conditions, etc… Thirdly it makes it much easier for us to track and report any quality issues (aside from keeping all of the information in one place, our query handling platform has a far more sophisticated functionality than the Forum), and ensures that we are aware of the issue in the first place (the Forum was set up for Flow beekeepers to exchange beekeeping advice and the Customer Support Team for product assistance, in our view, this separation allows for both better and broader beekeeping advice, and more useful product assistance). There can also be privacy concerns if we need to ask questions, discuss customer details, etc. In some cases the customer might have made a rookie error and may feel more comfortable discussing that privately. Anything that we think has broader usefulness we do tend to share via the most appropriate avenue, for example we might introduce it to our FAQs, create a video dealing with a specific issue for customers to access, or send an email to impacted customers, etc. etc. Hope this makes sense, and if you need any further information please let us know. Cheers, Free

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Thanks for posting that gem, it is great to feel I’m not the only one that does daft things. :grin:
Cheers

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