Hi Stefan, normally I’d take a few frames out before attempting to lift the honey super, I find the flow frames more challenging to do that with, compared to normal frames. Plus I thought the owner was going to tap most of the honey. Plus it wasn’t a paying visit, I wanted to be in & out fast, which I was I grabbed it by the 2 side handles that are on the original flow supers, which aren’t very deep. Maybe it felt heavier on account that I didn’t have a good grip on it.
Hopefully I wont hear from him again until he needs me to take more bees away.
With even a 6 frame Flow Super that is heavy with honey is a struggle for me so I take out a couple of frames first. Funny a full Flow Super feels heavier than a traditional super and I figure that is a lack of good lifting points on the ends, They seem to be heavier if you are already sweating to but I’m sure it has to do with feeling weaker in the heat. We are having it hot around here just now.
Cheers
Seriously I don’t see a reason to lift a full Flow Super. You can inspect frames individually to see if they are capped. And all tapping of honey done in situ. Why complicate it.
I find it ironic that the idea of a Flow hive is that you don’t disturb the bees so much BUT you still have to move the super to inspect the brood, pull the frames to ensure they are ready for harvest or to make the super light enough to lift for an inspection. Just like a normal hive really…
I agree with you. But the only reason I got a flow hive is that I don’t have to mess around with honey extraction. That was the only thing keeping me from getting a hive in the past.
I see that with advantages of the Flow hive come some disadvantages which I have to live with.
There are simple design issues that I would have done differently as I favour function over form.
Hi Pete, I was fully expecting the flow super to be light because after my last inspection the bloke was keen to harvest the honey. I removed two splits from it & only left it with the one brood frame that contained the queen cells. Since my inspection, he harvested 2 frames & was planning on harvesting more last Sunday but it was too hot. I was thinking he should take a leaf out of our book & do it either early or late in the day. Wilma said “what’s the matter, he’s only gotta turn the handle”.
Before I left I told him he should inspect the frames before harvesting the honey, then I said “I don’t think you’re going to do that”.
That’s why I’m hoping I don’t hear from him until the colony is ready to split again. I don’t want to hear about grubs in the honey, or bees ready to abscond a few days after the honey harvest.
Yes, a full flow super is very awkward to lift because of the shallow handles, it feels heavier than a normal full depth super. One simple trick: before lifting remove the large back door, the rounded edge makes a beautiful hand hold
Without a block and tackle I have to remove a couple of Flow Frames to lift the super off to do inspections of the brood Wilfred, We don’t all have a set up like yours mate – unfortunately. So stop teasing with the pics.
I find that by late morning it is too hot for me so I take ‘time out’ till about 3:30 then at it till close to dark and give them time to settle down. 34c in the shade yesterday at noon is pushing it a bit hard. I was to buggered to put the thermometer in the sun for 10 minutes, I just wanted out of there
Cheers
Hi Pete, yeah it been too hot to be in a bee suit during the day. Even 3.30 is a bit early for me, unless I’m in the shade.
Hi @Numbatino, he’s been at it for 3 years. He got his first bees off me 3 years ago. It’s fair to say that he just wants to harvest honey. That’s why I didn’t wait for him to come back with his veil so I could show him the beautiful laying pattern of his new queen. I’ve showed him plenty of brood in the past & I’ve done plenty of talking. I told him how his brother’s hive got slymed out. All he wants to do is harvest honey on the hive, regardless of the risks of not inspecting the frames first & harvesting the honey away from the hive. In my mind, that’s like playing Russian roulette with your bees.
Yesterday a lady came & bought some sugar cane plants from me. She said “you’re into bees?!!!, I’ve got a flow hive, it did well for 2 years, now it’s not doing very well at all, my brother-in-law in Brisbane also has a flow hive but his bees absconded”. She lives in Toowoomba, probably too far away for Peter to go & rescue.
Hey Jeff, The furthest I been away from home this year was a 550K round trip to Warwick so Toowoomba is very doable. The Warwick chap tried the local bee group but couldn’t get help.
I’ve moved my hives since you were last at my apiary and they now mostly have afternoon shade from a shipping container after 3:30 which makes a big difference, but mate, the humidity is hard to cope with. I bought a bandana that has gel crystals in it that you soak in water for an hour then tie it around your neck, it is a help.
Cheers
I wonder why nobody is making and selling long hives, even in kit form, as are Flow Hives and Langstroth’s. Are we so set in our ways that a bee hive HAS to be vertical. I have seen some really good long hives and see merit in them.
Cheers Terry
The difficulty for a flow long hive is integrating the flow frames with Langstroth frames horizontally.
Guilfoyle sells what looks like a 30 frame Langstroth long hive in their Western Australian store, however, it is massively heavy and very expensive for a rectangular plywood box with lids.
My original prototype SESS V1 has some unique engineering solutions to integrate the FF’s and as far as I am aware it is the only flow frame long hive that maintains all the benefits of the flow frames without compromising long hive management practices.
I have identified a number of improvements and compromises and have already drawn up plans for V2.0. This new long hive will be well-insulated (approximately R=6), very strong and light enough to post internationally as a flat pack, easy to assemble product.
I am still sourcing materials and a reasonably priced cutting shop and hopefully will start building the final V2.0 prototype after Christmas.
My greatest expense is having the CAD files created, but at least this is a single expense that I can recoup over time if I can get the unit price down sufficiently to make SSES V2.0 affordable enough for non-commercial beekeepers.
Consider your local Men’s Shed if you need cutting done. They are always looking for projects to get involved in Terry, and my local group have all the gear needed to make planks into completed hives including the painting and at ridiculously cheap price too…
Keep us updated when you have the prototype made, it might be the bees knees to extending bee keeping to us older bee keepers.
Cheers
Hi Pete, I’m putting your gift to good use. It’s 35 out the back in the shade now. Does the name Alby ring a bell? I thought to myself, I’ll just go through the alphabet, which often works when I’m trying to think of someone’s name.
I grabbed it by the 2 side handles that are on the original flow supers, which aren’t very deep. Maybe it felt heavier on account that I didn’t have a good grip on it.
