Flow Hive inspiration for getting bees?

I’m curious as to how many people were inspired by the FlowHive to start beekeeping for the first time. Any idea on stats for this?

Thanks in advance.
Soph

It would be an interesting stat. I would imagine quite a few. They had 37,098 backers, but what percentage of those were first timers I have no idea. Based on participation here on the forum it would seem somewhere in the ballpark of 40-50%.

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I get the impression that there are many who have had bee keeping in their background and been thinking about getting a hive, and this was the tipping point. I’m one of them ; -)

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I am one of these too,
I started looking into bee-keeping a few years ago, and started researching what is involved. My thinking was that if I was going to do it I would start getting my stuff together for Spring of next year(2016), maybe. The long lead was so that I could establish a decent garden that would have my bees happy all year round on my property just in case neighbours use :skull: Chemicals… :skull:
If it wasn’t going to be the thing for me it wouldn’t matter as I’d have a great native garden anyway…
Then in March I saw the flow hive… the fact that it was Aussie designed also helped my decision. So now I’m just waiting with baited breath for the email saying that my December delivery is going to be early… PLEASE!!!

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Hi Sara, you can count me in that group too. More than anything it was the ease of harvesting and dispensing with the need to either purchase a bulky extractor (that I dont have room to store) or the hassle of driving around borrowing one.

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We are city dwellers with a tiny yard, 20 x 15. Feet.

And the thought of storing spare supers and frames and an extractor and all the other hoohaw involved in extracting, well we just haven’t got space. I don’t plan on ever having more than three boxes; one brood, one with the flow frames and one spare that can be more brood or more stores and comb honey.

And like you I am DYING waiting for my hive to arrive. Of course it will be a few months before the swarms begin to fly, so I won’t be able to get it launched until spring ; -)

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Hi Darren, you’ll find that the bees will probably spend more time outside your garden than inside. They cover a huge area. Just say for argument sake they cover a radius of 4 kilometers. It’s easy to work out pyeD. That’s around 25 square kilometers. A big area.

You’re right. At least planting flowers in your garden will keep somebody else’s bees happy. It takes 2 million flower visits to make a pound of honey.

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Definitely incentive for us to getting into bee keeping

I had wanted to keep bees for years but had been put off by my perception of messy honey collection. The Flow Hive was a perfect incentive for me and the fact that it was developed locally is a real bonus.

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Hi Dee, you’ve seen my observation hive plus my other hives around the side of my house. I had some stickies about 2 meters away from them today for them to clean up. They weren’t interested. The nectar further away was more interesting to them. There was some bees at it earlier but they must have left it for a more impressive waggle:) It’s all to do with the waggle.

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My Dad had bees - two lots, one in the Hawkesbury and one on the South Coast - and he kept us in honey for years. He became ill and wasn’t able to look after them anymore and then passed away last year. A swarm arrived in our front yard last November and the idea of having our own bees was born. When I saw the Flow Hive early this year I decided straight away to jump in and buy one so that I can start with beekeeping when I have a proper place to put it!! I’m so excited!! In the meantime, I am learning lots from some friends who have masses of bees and I’m going to help them whenever they need extra hands. When I am ready for my own bees, I’ll be more knowledgeable and a bit more confident!

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Good on you @northwest, I am impressed and I reckon your Dad would be too… carry on his legacy

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Wonderful @northwest :slight_smile: Good that you are learning about bees and beekeeping before you get the hardware, rather than vice versa. Your dad must be smiling at you.

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Thank you Rodderick - I love how this forum is so full of wonderful people who are supportive and positive! We are all looking forward to our bee journey - I’ve got a stack of beekeeping books that I’ve read and am letting everything just settle inside my brain. I’m impatient to get started… but have to wait a little while yet till we’re ready :grinning:

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Thank you Dee - we’re not quite ready yet, so I’ll use this time to learn as much as I can. I love to think that Dad is smiling at me - I smile and think of Dad every time I see a bee buzzing around being busy!!

@northwest I spent the first 6 months of this year doing exactly that - read books, articles, video, chatted to people and joined my local group, been to bee Meet ups and National honey show - always something to learn

Closer to 50 sq km. Area=pi times radius squared. Quite the travellers are bees.

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Thank you Bernie. PyeRsquared. I should have remembered that… Yes, I remember now PyeD=C or 2PyeR=C. It’s only been 52 years since high school, I should have remembered that… Yes, that IS a big area for the bees to cover.

@Valli - yep, reading and learning is teaching me a lot. I want to be ready to look after our bees!

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