hej,
Min far bor i Jämtland och är väldigt intresserad av att köpa Flow Hive men han vill gärna prata med någon som redan köpt en och bor i Sverige. De lokala bi-odlarna hatar rätt hårt på “Flow Hive konceptet” så där får han inget stöd.
Helst skulle han nog vilja komma och hälsa på och titta på grejerna. Jag bor i Stockholm så om någon av er som bor häromkring kan tänka er lite informations/ideutbyte så vore det perfekt, iom att de hälsar på lite då och då
Om någon känner för att hjälpa en trevlig 75 åring som tänkte börja med bin på äldre dagar och då gärna gör det på ett mer innovativt sätt än traditionellt, får ni gärna maila mig: mattias.almeflo@gmail.com så kan jag förmedla ert telefonnummer till honom. Han bits inte, men är frågvis, ödmjuk och skärpt
Tjena! Mina föräldrar fick sina bin idag dock ska de tillbringa några dagar i transportlådan innan de flyttar in i flowhiven. Biodlaren som hjälper mina föräldrar att komma igång har 40 samhällen och är lätt skeptisk mest pga den svenska honungens viskositet dvs att den är trögflytande, men han tycker att man naturligtvis bör testa allt som kan underlätta vardagen.
Om du har vägarna förbi Vårgårda i Västergötland är du/ni naturligtvis välkomna att titta förbi.
Jonas heter jag & jag har precis monterat ihop min Flowhive i Grebbestad på västkusten. Hade bin på 90-talet & nu är det definitivt dags igen.
Vill gärna ha kontakt er andra & har redan sett en massa smarta lösningar i den här tråden. Vill man hitta mig på Facebook letar man enklast på Jonas Tångmannen Pettersson
Hej alla!
Jag heter Thomas Mätzsch, bor i Skövde och har beställt, fått och satt ihop en FlowHive i mars 2016. Håller på att bimanna (bisystra??) den nu… Har haft bin sedan 2000 och skriver lite om “vedermödorna” och funderingarna i Bitidningen. Var inte medveten om detta forum, varför vi startade ett nytt genom en annan FH-ägare (Carolina; http://bjorkemyr.se/beebb/ucp.php?mode=register). Vi har även en mejllista med fn 8 FH-ägare över hela landet. Dessutom finns det en fb-grupp med svenska FH-ägare; undrar hur många som äger FH i Sverige vid det här laget - verkar vara en bra bit över dussinet…
Verkligen kul att så många nappat på den här idén om den “halvautomatiska bikupan” i Sverige!
Hej Tobbe,
Jag tänker vrida på kranen nu i helgen, cellerna är inte täckta men jag har raps runt mig och det har varit torrt här nere länge så jag provar. När jag kände på ramarna så var dom tunga av honung.
Jörgen
Ramdala
Jo tack det gick bra, vi hade torrt väder, så det var låg vattenhalt i honungen, hoppas på ett sensommar drag nu annars får vi hoppas på nästa år. Det viktigaste för mig har varit att ramarna funkar här i sverige.
jörgen
Kul! Tog du några bilder på själva tömningen? Vi har inte testat farsans än då ramarna inte var fulla i juni (se bild) men han ska testa när han kommer tillbaka från semestern om ca 10 dagar. Vi har dock haft turen att få två nya samhällen av det första och har kunnat skörda honung från ramarna i nedre delen i flowhiven samt i den gröna kupan.
Vi har haft det angenäma problemet med otroligt bra tillväxt i samhället i både flowen (och i den gröna frigolitkupan), vilket har lett till att farsan fått bygga en del till med åtta klassiska ramar mellan den yngellådan och flowdelen. Idén är att ta av flowramarna under vintern och låta de två andra stå kvar med honung i så att de klarar sig fodermässigt.
Hello all, my husband and I are in Sweden and are extremely excited and interested in getting started and hope to order our Flow Hive in the coming weeks. We are just having a hard time finding someone who sells bees! And of course since we are completely new to the idea we are currently trying to learn everything we can. I am excited to see a seemingly thriving, albeit small, community in Sweden using the Flow Hive. We look forward to learning from your experiences and sharing our own!
On a side note, I, too, have unfortunately noticed the hostility from traditional beekeepers towards the Flow Hive and my answer is always the same: if improving upon an old design is so offensive, then I suggest that those people also stop using all of their power tools, lawn mowers, cars, dishwashers, laundry machines, and any other innovations that have led them to do the same jobs in an easier and sometimes gentler manner.
Have you all been able to harvest this year? Did you establish your hives this year or last year (most of what I have read was that hives cannot be harvested the first year they are being established)?
I was wondering if any FlowHive keepers in Sweden could update how their hives did over the winter? Are things starting to come along and liven up now that spring is here? We are getting our bees next month and can’t wait to get going!
After my first nervous winter my two hives have survived on one broodbox. I started late in the season, in July, with a Flow and a few weeks later with a Toreboda hive.
I built an insulation jacket for the Flow, which worked well, the other hive is pre-insulated. Our low was -19 Degs C.
Didn’t harvest anything, that’s for this year.
Bees became active last weekend and are very busy bringing in pollen. Did hive checks yesterday and was surprised to see so much in honey stores! I expected them to be running on empty. The Flow is approx. 60% full of capped honey still, plus uncapped. The Toreboda (10 frames) is approx 50%. Found eggs, larva and brood in both, and saw one queen. So all good!
I’ll check again next week but I’m wondering if the Flow might need a 2 broodbox sometime soon. There isn’t so much room left for the queen to do her magic.
A question to the more experienced gurus of the forum… Is it too early to add a second broodbox under the current one??
I’m guessing it’s better to be early than too late!
Wow, thank you for the replies, both sound very hopeful and positive! Jagestedt I look forward to hearing more updates and hope you find things are looking great inside! Huge, that is amazing! Might I ask in what area of Sweden your hives are? (far south, middle, north…). I am in Småland and am having a hard time finding any mentors in the area so I am trying to gather as much information as I can.
Huge, also out of curiosity, you mentioned a second broodbox on the Flow hive, I had considered that might be needed here, as well. Will you build one or order one somewhere? I have been looking at equipment availability here and it doesn’t seem any of the hives in Sweden available are of a compatible size. Am I missing something? I have been looking at importing some Langstroth boxes from England, or else possibly building some ourselves.
Also, (my apologies for so many questions) since you both insulated your hives, do you feel it is necessary? I hadn’t planned on it but am now rethinking for this winter.
Hi Denise!
I can only confirm what has already been said by Huge and Jagestedt. My FH
has also survived the winter (I’m located in Skövde - southern part of
Sweden, just north of Småland…).
I’m continuing to have 2 brood boxes. I made/modified one out of an
uninsulated 10-frame box bought from Töreboda and I think it is time to put
the second one on, if you haven’t wintered them on 2 (as I always do).
I have also made an “overcoat” (or “hat”) for additional insulation -
worked very well, and I’m pretty convinced that it is necessary in Sweden.
I have converted my other existing hives in Norsk-format to accept a
FLowFrame by putting an “adapter-board” inbetween the boxes because mixing
formats is a bitch!
Good luck!
Thomas
I’m in Northern Småland and I was lucky to find an experienced open minded mentor who was very intrigued by the Flow hive.
Regarding the 2nd brood box, I bought it from Flow when I bought more frames for the second hive.
I bought the Töreboda to have a ‘native Swedish hive’ plus to edge my bets in case of a winter loss and to have more standard equipment. But despite the native hive, I’ve struggled to find a feedbox for it, so i understand your frustration. I also looked to England for a feedbox for the Flow too, but after 6 months of trying to find one that fits, I’ve given up! It seems whatever you buy, you’ll end up with some form of hybrid. But, as always, it is more work adapting a solution. Having said that though, I could adapt the 10 frame uninsulated as a super for my Flow frames though, I’ll look into that, thanks Thomas!
As for insulation I read this http://www.beeculture.com/winter-management/ posted on this forum but I can’t remember by who. So I don’t take any credit for finding it. My jacket was built before it was posted, so mine has no air gap. Didn’t think of that.
Insulation is not necessarily needed though see ‘Per Lundblad’s snow capped Flow™ Hives. Winter in Stockholm - Sweden’ tweeted by Flow Hive https://mobile.twitter.com/flowhive/status/823765733062475777?s=11
It’s all down to personal choice and how much time you have.
Regarding adding the second brood box now, I think I’ll wait a week or two and then re-evaluate. I read that the bees will eats up stores fast as they grow the brood in early spring plus I think I disturbed them enough inspecting over the weekend. I’m not that fast inspecting yet.
