Hello I’m Jean-Claude from Hout Bay South Africa. Very new to beekeeping. I’ve been interested in beekeeping for a while but never made the time to get lessons, hives, etc:grimacing:. I was blessed with an amazing opportunity to take occupation on an estate with 4 existing flow hives. I’m in desperate need of guidance to maintain the hives and keep the bees alive. I’m open for any advice and help that I can get. thanks in abundance
Welcome to the forum and the completely addictive world of bee keeping.
To get a crash course you will find YouTube useful if you are able to figure out and ignore the mis-information.
The guys and girls here will be happy to advise on any issues you have and some might name good books worth buying.
Flow Hive also has videos on line. I guess you have also found the accessory gear like the frame opening keys and the draining tubes?
Maybe you can find a local bee keeper or a bee equipment supplier who can tell you about locals.
Cheers, Peter (Queensland, Australia)
Thanks for the warm welcome.
I have been watching hours of videos on youtube and found alot of information. So much useful information and im really glad that people takes the time of their day to make those videos.
Yes I have found all the gear from the supplier. Very awesome and i cant wait for my first harvest.
happy happy
When it is time to do your first harvest of honey kake sure you do it with a slight tilt backwards of the hive so that as the honey accumulates in the draining trough it flows to the draining end so to prevent honey flooding into the hive. Also only open the frame in 20% steps at a time.
I am sure you will find a local bee group in the Cape Town area will be very helpful about at least general bee keeping if not about the Flow Hive. The only difference really is about the harvesting.
Cheers, Peter
When I said to open the frame 20% at a time I meant to insert the key in 20% of the way and fully open that section of comb. When the honey has almost stopped flowing then insert the key in another 20% and open that section, and so it goes till you have drained the entire frame.
Cheers
Hello Jean-Claude. How did you get on with the flow hives in Hout Bay? I’m just up the road from you on the Atlantic Seaboard and have been keen to get into beekeeping for some time. I’ve only recently learned about the Flow Hive and it would seem to be the easiest entry point, if not the cheapest. I’d be interested to hear of your experience.
Hi Steve. Thanks for reaching out. To be honest, the only simplicity the flow hive brings to beekeeping harvesting honey and the design of the hives makes for easy handling. You can harvest honey with simple instructions form flowhive and some basic knowledge about bees and bee behavior.
Any other aspect of beekeeping will still be the same for caring for your bees, and spending time with a seasoned beekeeper will make your life so much easier. There’s a lot of educational videos on youtube and the flow forum to educate yourself, but a local beekeeper has the knowledge and information to your location.
Welcome to the forum Steven lots of reading on the forum for tips and good sound advice. A Flow Hive is not cheap but there is ways around saving some money by just buying the Flow Hive Super and the frames that go into it and buying a Langstroth Base board, a box, a metal QX and a migratory roof for the size of hive you decide for. An 8 frame brood box is a perfect fit for the six frame Flow Super.
Join in with a local bee group to get local knowledge and some hand on experience if you can. It is often a bit of a shock to beginners to lift the roof and see how many bees there is in a hive, You will probably suddenly think there is a lot to learn and you might have a really steep learning curve. That is where we on the forum can help guide you along.
No question is a stupid question when you don’t know the answer, it is just stupid if you don;t ask.
Cheers
That is excellent advice… only realized it once I received my order (February 2021) from Flow Hive. My research was not entirely up to scratch … anticipated starting immediately with beekeeping, only to find out it is better to wait until Spring to either get a Nuc or wait for a swarm to find you! Now I have to patiently wait and read and learn as much as I can.
I’ve been interested in beekeeping for a while but never made the time to get lessons, hives, etc:grimacing:. I was blessed with an amazing opportunity to take occupation on an estate with 4 existing flow hives.
I’m in desperate need of guidance to maintain the hives and keep the bees alive.
I’m open for any advice and help that I can get. thanks in abundance
