Just wanted to help the bees and received a flow hive for Xmas. So, here we go!
2 Likes
Welcome to the forum. Tennessee here too.
Congratulations, beekeeping has a huge learning curve. Have you already ordered your bees? What kind?
still putting hive together, haven’t ordered bees yet. Where might you be located in TN? Im still not sure whether to get a Nuc or just a box of bees
Im in oak ridge, just west of knoxville. Home of the atomic bomb. I started with a package last spring. Then drove to Nashville and picked up a 10 frame hive in August last year. Definitely prefer the nuc method for my future purchase but extremely pleased to raise a whole colony from scratch. If youre only starting with one hive i would lean more towards nuc. No matter which you pick, get ready, its an amazing experience!
Order soon, they can sell out fast.
yes, I know exactly where you are! I’m in Bethpage Tn, between Gallatin and Westmoreland TN. About 50 min from Nashville. I have some questions for you but I just got home and need to eat so I’ll hit U up later. How many flow hives do U have?
What size? Mine has 3 flow frame and 4 blank ones for brood to build on…
I went with the 6 frame flow hive 2 in cedar. I plan to order a 7 frame soon. Here it is last summer on a hot day. Good ol bee beard.
The blank ones are for comb honey. The queen will not lay there. Its above the queen excluder. 
Best advice, join the local beekeeping club. Beekeeping and management with a flow hive is not any different than it is with any other langstroth hive. The only thing that is different is how you extract the honey when the time comes.
1 Like
Things that come to mind. Bee gentle when inspecting, you dont wanna roll or smash the queen on accident. Use the smoker. Do the mite count. Kill the mites appropriately. Make sure your ladies have room when the box gets packed, never add a box early. Dont over inspect. And share your experience! We all like to watch and grow together.
Hey Guys!
I’m just starting an apiary at my school with 3 flow hives. My class is going to be designing and building a wildflower garden that will hold three of the 7 frame FW2+ hives. Glad to have some TN contacts! How has the winter been for you? I’m starting out with a 10 frame brood and the 7 frame flow super. Was wondering if I should add another box before winter comes or if you think they’ll be good with those.
1 Like
Welcome to the forum. Congratulations on starting a few colonies. Beekeeping is very subjective to location (25 square miles or so) and is micro managed. The best thing is to get with the local beekeeping community to see what kind of nectar flow you have and proper hive setup for your area. Winter went well for me and my ladies. They managed to make it without needing supplements. My area uses 2 brood boxes, they use a lot of resources in the winter because it doesnt get cold enough for them to hunker down. Just a few miles over the elevation increase and keeps the winter months under flight temperatures so they use less resources and only use 1 brood box. It is super important to reach out to your local club. Also, register your colonies with the state. It’s the law and they offer great benefits. Like free inspection if your colony is sick and replacing your colony if something happens.
Thanks for info! I plan to get them registered and have started some relationships with local bee keepers. Thankfully, I’ve had loads of support getting started. Love the pic of your hive! I’ll try to post a few of my own when the garden and hives get set up. It looks like it will be closer to the end of April though. I just got notice that there has been a shipping delay so they won’t be in until mid-April.
Also was reading your comments on nucs. That’s my preferred way to start. However, I’m a little late in the season for those around here but found a farm in GA that can accommodate me. I’ll just have to go for a drive for those.
1 Like
OK, here we go…Put together all blank frames (no wax etc, came with present) so I put 6 in brood box and 4 in super that has 3 flow frames (3 flow in center and 2 blank frames on each outside flow frame) SO…should I get a NUC and if I do will those frames fit? or should I just get a box of bees and dump em in there and hope for the best? Of course there’s nothing on the 6 frames in brood box so I assume if I get a box of bees they’ll know what to do surely. If I get a nut, does the person want their frames back eventually? When frames are looking good with lots bees, honeycomb etc I assume I’ll take 4 of them and replace the ones in the top with them?
Bee Well
Bill Champion By the way your hive looks awesome!
There should be 8 frames in the brood chamber.
As for your bee introduction to hive, you really need an expierenced beekeeper to assist. It isnt as simple as dumping them in. You gotta position the queen properly. 
Highly recommend reading everything you can about beekeeping too. Its super easy to kill a colony by accident. Bee management is a lot of work.
If you do the nuc, the frames will fit into the flow hive box A okay.
Never heard of it happeneing before.
No. You add the super.
