Sharon & Ian asked me to inspect their flow hives. They picked up one colony 8 months ago & the other one 2 months ago. They are really thrilled with their flow hive. They are amazed with the flavor of the honey their hive is producing. They determined that it’s essential to inspect the frames before harvest. They also determined that it’s best to only harvest 2 frames at a time. Check out the oil traps they used on the hive stand they erected to stop ants getting up to the hives.
Good stuff Jeff
Good stuff Jeff
Hi & thank you Dee!!!
Thank you all for a great video
Another really useful video Jeff and Wilma. Thanks very much.
I’ve been trying the oil traps but I’m finding bees getting drowned in the front ones. Do Sharon and Ian have this problem?
My oil traps are much smaller than the plastic containers they use. I’m planning on installing a bee deflector on the set I’m making next. Trouble is I want to deflect bees but not make a track for the ants.
G’day Bob & thank you:) They didn’t say. I don’t think they have any problems with bees drowning in them. I heard that a greasy rag tied around a leg works well. I have the odd ant myself, however I’ve tried anything to keep them out of my hives. I sometimes find ants nests under the hives, where my hives sit on the stand. I’ll often find ant eggs on the bearers after I remove a hive. For a while I had a large nest of Redback spiders nesting under the hives of one stand.
Also thank YOU Sue @Suses70
Chao Jeff n Wilma … Thankz one more time for a very informative Flow inspection n Harvest vid ! Your thinning out a frame or so (checker board almost) to reduce the urge of the colony to swarm was helpful too. Catching the hive upward population before it pushes them into crowding n potentially to swarm.
This last summer (our season up north) I didn’t get that thinning done so ended up with queen swarm cells n had to do a split. That was a first for me. It had been 55 yrs since I hobbied/raised bees. Don’t remember working my bees like I’m learning now. It’s a whole new ball game.
Gerald
Thank YOU Gerald. My preemptive swarm control strategy has been working well for me so far this season. I looked at one hive the other day that I suspected may have swarmed. I didn’t look into the brood. If it did swarm, it would be the first one. I’ve had the odd mishap, like I possibly killed a queen or the bees killed them during an inspection, I saw that happen once. Over all I’m way in front.
I did Sharon’s hive 2 days ago & yesterday I got called out to a swarm. So the bees are still swarming, however not a readily as they were at the start of spring.
Jeff … Thankz for the reply ! I’m so blessed returning to beekeeping have experienced folks to keep me more on the bee path to high successes as I learn along the bee learning curve. I wish i could learn Vietnamese as quickly as I’m recovering latent old skills n new improved from you guys n my local mentor.
BTW … Tell your wife I dated a Wilma back in Jr n Sr High School. We still stay in touch … She married my best buddy after high school n his hitch in the U.S. Navy. Sadly he passed several years ago. I really miss my buddy. Life must go on ! Hmm, how’d I get on this subject !!!
Anyway Jeff ! I’m so pleased to know you n your lovely bride!
Cheers from chilly wet Western Washington.
Gerald
Thank you Gerald. It’s easy for us oldies to go off on tangents:) You spaghetti looks delicious. Makes me hungry. I need to go & get some lunch, it’s 1.45, cheers:)
Thanks for the tip on the oil, my hive has been home for 2 weeks now and I already have ants going into the side of my corflute base board having climbed the blocks. Guess I need to get onto it quick but not sure how to solve this without a completely new stand for my hive. Any suggestions so that I can continue to use my block and plank stand please?
Ps Good to hear of more Flow users in Eumundi area!
Andy
Thanks for the movie JeffH & Co. I like Ian’s stand looks to be a modified shelving unit with out the shelves. 
and is that core flute tacked on the roof? I was thinking of putting some galvanized on top.
I just thought I’d add that beginners and not such beginners would learn masses from lookIng at this video. That’s what a frame of bees should look like; so many bees that you can’t see the comb and a " good brood pattern" is what you were showing; brood right across the whole frame not what we see sometimes on YouTube with a patch of brood in the middle.
Excellent
Hi & you’re welcome McFoxdale, they bought that shelving at Bunnings, a major hardware chain in Australia. Yes that is core flute on the roof. They stuck it on with double sided tape.
Excellent video Jeff, demonstrating why foundation is worth the effort! The bee numbers are awesome!
Here is a frame I pulled in an inspection yesterday, filled right to the bottom.
We have a Bunnings here in the Whitsundays JeffH 
They must be very happy with your bees too, and the mentorship they are getting is world-class! Fabulous video. I really hope that Wilma recovered quickly from the stings. Thank you for putting the effort into making this clip - so many great lessons in it. 
to @JeffH and Wilma!!!
Hi Sam, that’s beautiful. I think we can talk till we’re blue in the face, however photos tell the true picture & a thousand words. The sad thing is that some people may still not get it.
Hi Dawn, “you’re” most welcome:) Thank YOU Dawn, it’s a shame that the veil hid the look on Sharon’s face. She is sooo happy with the flow hive & how things have worked out. They did a great job with the stand & roof. They also got some removable trays to put in place of the core flute while harvesting the honey, to catch the drips. I didn’t show that part, it didn’t turn out well in the video. Maybe next time.
Sharon was thrilled to tell us how that everyone who tastes her honey has an “Oh My God, that’s the best honey I’ve ever tasted” kind of reaction.
I’ve been inspecting my hives for hive beetle and swarm cells. I’ve made a couple of “discoveries” I should have known about earlier.
Firstly “The twist”.
I’ve watched dozens, perhaps hundreds of you tube videos and seen beeks lifting off supers. As they do, they generally give the super a little “twist” once they prise it loose with the hive tool. Two days ago I found out why this twist is necessary.
My flow hive super is sitting on a lovely strong 8 frame hive and I wanted to check the brood box out. I loosened the super OK and then lifted it straight up. I was heavier than I expected and felt a bit awkward. Two of the frames of brood were stuck on the bottom of the super They fell off to one side of the hive and the bees got very angry, very quickly. Luckily I had the suit on. Now I know the importance of the “twist”. Turning the super as soon as it’s loose breaks any burr comb between the bee boxes.
Secondly “The big gap”.
I had combined a couple of weaker colonies into a double decker pair of nuc boxes. I ended up with 9 frames in the two boxes instead of ten. I left a space to one side of the top box intending to add another frame as soon as the colony was strong enough. Of course I forgot and the bees built a lovely straight comb against the side of the box. I was able to trim the comb back to fit a Langstroth frame and fix it in place with rubber bands.
I saved the trimmings and used Jeff’s technique to test the honey. It isn’t ripe so I’m using half of it straight away and giving the rest to my neighbours. I was surprised at just how much comb I needed to trim back. The girls had been very busy.
The gap in the top of the comb is where I cut out some brace? comb. The girls had turned the honeycomb pattern through 90 degrees and built themselves some reinforcement.
