Additionally, I’ve been told not to expect to add your flow frames your 1st year if you are a 1st time beekeeper. In my case as well as my girls are doing, I think I will be adding it but not sure yet. For you need a very well established hive to harvest honey
1st, I would attempt when adding your flow frames, just to add them without any additional preparation. Many have reported no issues at all.
2nd, never use wax from any other source other than your own hive for that hive. For too many diseases can be transferred by unknown wax even if it is heated
3rd, depending on your area, here in the United States it is suggested you have 2 brood boxes. When you will know to add your flow frames, is when your bees have all frames 100% build out and it looks like they need more room, then wait a week or 2 then you should be good to add. Depending on the number of brood boxes, it may take a month or 2.
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Sounds like tempering between a full brood box and then added super while avoiding swarm conditions
Is a little tricky
Not really as much as it is, we as new beekeepers are more concerned and think it’s overflowing more and that it really is.
The biggest concern that you have is if you added it to soon, the heat will rise into the flow frame area and the bees will not be able to keep the brood that existing below the flow frames warm enough to hatch and that will become what is known as chilled brewed, and the brood will die. So the hive will be set back dramatically.
Okay that is good information I live in Georgia and I current temperatures are around 55 at night and around 76 during the day. Is there a temperature range that one should watch for to avoid this problem?
Not really, each temperature/season has a different set of variables need to watch out for. Too much to go into it right now but you can certainly do research and talk to your mentor. Here is a link of all the photos I’ve taken thus far. I have a thermal imaging camera that shows how much heat the bees generate. They need to keep their brood around 93° minimum in order to to prevent chilled brood. That’s why it is important not to add the box to send. You can see from the images how hot the box can get. The exterior the box is still close to the outside relative temperature, but through the images you can see variation and where the heat from the inside the box is radiating to the outside. All the images show is how the temperature difference across the face of the box. Where it’s bright yellow/white that’s the hottest on the outside of the box and that may be only 5° difference in the coldest part of the box, on the outside. Using the thermal imaging camera looking at the inside of the box checking the temperature I’ve seen it as hot as 96° even when it’s 35 out
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Do you have an idea of whether your local beekeepers use 2 brood boxes? I would think they do, as Georgia’s climate is not exactly subtropical 
If so, you will want to fill a second brood box before you put any super on the hive.
I will get a good idea tonight when I pick up me bees. Buster is a very reputable and successful beekeeper…
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Don’t worry about that problem. My hives stay at 3+ deep brood boxes tall all year. They survive 5-10F. Bees that move into a wall cavity don’t shrink and expand the cavity based on colony numbers. They choose a cavity big enough to sustain them when they are at full strength.
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AHHH… this will explain why, when our beekeeper added some frames into our next Flow hive last October (southern hemisphere, so spring), the bees filled the (non Flow) brood frames with honey then swarmed - all within 3-4 weeks. They didn’t like the plastic ones! All go now though - they made a new queen and got on with things and so to them, the plastic was normal. The original bees were in an ordinary box to start with. Must pass that on to the local Bee Club we have just joined - they finally have their Flow hive and are about to start assembling it.
Hi Dawn, I quickly did a comparison between Byron Bay, where Cedar is located & Sydney, where Rodderick is located. They are both similar latitudes to Georgia. One not as far & the other further away. I think from memory, they both use single brood boxes. I think one or two brood boxes would be more a personal choice rather than a necessity in such a climate.
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Thought I would bring an update…
I installed what I felt was a fabulous NUC. Based on responses here I ordered a second DEEP for brood but after speaking to the beekeeper I bought the NUC from second guessed myself and ordered a Medium. Because of this there was a delay in the equipment arrival. I watched daily and did a 7 day inspection and did not see the queen. As it turned out this NUC was so strong they had already started to prep to swarm.
12 days in: After a second inspection confirmed queen cups and drone cups at the bottom of more than on frame and counting more than 3 cups I was seriously concerned. As fate would have it the local beekeepers club was meeting that week so I went and voiced my concern. The president and his wife graciously volunteered to come on Saturday to inspect. The first thing he said when he cracked open the hive was, ‘That’s one awesome NUC!’ Buster’s Bees, Jonesboro, Georgia!!
14 days in: My new equipment arrived on the Friday before they came to re-inspect. When they opened up the hive they found a fantastic queen with a great laying pattern and that the colony was indeed already prepping for a swarm with 5 day larvae in the queen cups!
We set up the new deep with a split taking two strong frames of brood and food and the awesome queen to the new DEEP leaving the super strong bunch of workers, brood and food to continue to work and prepare for their new queen.
So my single NUC became 2 colonies in exactly 3 weeks!
I am feeding the new colony and yesterday, 4 days in I witnessed an orientation flight in front but will do nothing except possibly add a medium super if they fill that DEEP quickly. But I did add the Flow Frames to the super busy original colony to give them room to expand their food surplus while preparing for their new queen.
I see a good many bees on them, would like to see more since they are still bearding at night…and it appears they are working them…they are going in and out of the cells.
I expect to have a small harvest this year but will be giving them plenty of time and room to store for themselves with 2 more medium supers that are on the way…My new beekeeping mentor said under the circumstances expecting a small harvest for myself is reasonable. Our nectar flow has been really good this Spring.
My only concern is they are bearding at night and the temp at night is still in the low 60’s…I would hate for them to still swarm because they don’t like their home when the new queen emerges around the 18th.
Should I add a tiny bit of extra ventilation in the evenings?
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I asked when I picked up the NUC, they use one deep and one medium…so they are very experienced, I will follow suite this first year.
One thing I am taking into consideration also is that we live on the edge of a lake in a valley and I expect it to be breezy and a little colder in the winter than if they were in a field somewhere… We are going to build a wind block shield with some extra vinyl siding we have from a previous project…
I wouldn’t. The bees will go in if they are cold. If they are still hot, there is no harm in them staying out.
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Sounds fair enough, although if your location is colder than the nuc supplier, you might possibly do better with 2 deeps, but it is entirely your choice.
Very glad to hear you have such a good mentor. Lots of experience for you! 
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Five day old larvae wouldn’t be in “cups” they’d be in an almost capped cell. Maybe your mentor was confused.
Just added my flow frames today and just an hour later the bees were investigating. I sprayed some sugar syrup but did not coat with bees wax. So far, so good.
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That’s a nice picture, Patti.
I just pulled out my flow frames (but won’t be installing just yet), and was puzzled by the front-to-back offset of the hexagons. I read here that this is normal, but yours is the first picture where I can clearly see that offset.
Good luck with the flow!
mb
Yes vary normal 
the photo above look correct
What does it look like if the frames have not been reset?