# How long should it take to drain a Flow frame? **URL:** \ **Category:** Flow Hive\ **Created:** [August 16, 2017, 4:45am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/how-long-should-it-take-to-drain-a-flow-frame/12350 "2017-08-16T04:45:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sabine](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/sabine/32/141_2.png) [@Sabine](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Sabine)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2017, 4:45am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/how-long-should-it-take-to-drain-a-flow-frame/12350/1 "2017-08-16T04:45:09Z")
So tonight was the first time I’ve opened up one of my flowframes to harvest honey. It’s about 23° outside and after 3 1/2 hours they were still honey sitting in the tube and very little coming out. I close the frames remove the tubes and call it a day. I know it’s pitch dark outside 🙂 How long should it take in this temperature to drain the flow frame? My frames are only about 2/3 capped but I have to train them before winter ---
**Author:** ![Semaphore](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/semaphore/32/14994_2.png) [@Semaphore](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Semaphore)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2017, 6:26am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/how-long-should-it-take-to-drain-a-flow-frame/12350/2 "2017-08-16T06:26:49Z")
It really depends on the temperature and the honey water content/viscosity. This season I had some honey that was very thick and only 15.8 % water content- it took hours to completely drain from the hive. Other frames were drained in under an hour. Unripe/uncapped honey is often thinner and will flow out very fast. However- in general the majority of the honey comes out relatively quickly- it is the last 15% that takes a long time. If you use a a set up with a bucket and tubes like mine- and the hive is nearby- you can leave it draining overnight to be sure to get everything. I did that a few weeks ago and it worked well: ![IMG_0725](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/2X/0/0a9e2722422616447a97c65022dc988ae1a71903.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Yeager](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/john_yeager/32/4082_2.png) [@John\_Yeager](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/John_Yeager)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2017, 3:42pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/how-long-should-it-take-to-drain-a-flow-frame/12350/3 "2017-08-16T15:42:46Z")
It took 45 minutes to an hour to drain one frame on mine. It is pretty thick and more than likely below 18% water content. I base this off my honey from last year that I tested with the refractometer. The consistency was almost identical to last years harvest. The day I harvested it was around 80 deg F (27 deg C). I need to build a system like @Semaphore used to let sit for a long period. ---
**Author:** ![loganWHD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/loganwhd/32/21067_2.png) [@loganWHD](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/loganWHD)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/how-long-should-it-take-to-drain-a-flow-frame/12350/4 "2017-08-17T00:23:09Z")
It took mine about 1 hour. I did the crack 10% then waited till the tube was only half full then cracked 15% more, and did this in intervals. It ended up being that it took about 1 hour but I got something like 10lbs of honey out of 2 frames. I am in PA so it is about 70F here. ---
**Author:** ![Dawn\_SD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/dawn_sd/32/15954_2.png) [@Dawn\_SD](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dawn_SD)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 1:12am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/how-long-should-it-take-to-drain-a-flow-frame/12350/5 "2017-08-17T01:12:29Z")
> [@loganWHD](#): > > it took about 1 hour but I got something like 10lbs of honey out of 2 frames. When we drained 4 frames, it took about 2.5 hours in SoCal in late June. However, we got 27lb of honey, and it was 17.4% water or less. Almost 3 US gallons of really good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Lucky](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Lucky)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 2:31am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/how-long-should-it-take-to-drain-a-flow-frame/12350/6 "2017-08-17T02:31:09Z")
I took 2 frames yesterday at 26c. I don’t know what the viscosity was, need to get a refractometer. Each frame yielded about 3kg of honey. It probably took 1/2 an hour each frame, it helps a lot if you elevate the front of the hive, I stick a broken broom handle half way along the base board. Once the flow has slowed to a tiny trickle I close the flow frame up, stick the plug in and move to the next frame. Once the frames are done I find the remains of frame have settled and I take the plug out and get the last bit.