I’m a new beekeeper. I set up my flow hive to earlier in the spring and everything’s been going well. But my neighbor down the road has a Flow hive and looked at mine and said it shouldn’t be tilted backwards until it’s full of honey. I thought in the setup instructions I was supposed to level it according to the level on the side in the back which would give it a slight tilt towards the back. When should I have it tilted?
As long as it is level side to side (if you’re using foundation less frames) it doesn’t matter if it is completely level front-back. It can remain tilted back (at harvest angle) all the time. It is easier to get to a proper permanent level position when it is light any not full of honey and bees too.
It doesn’t matter. Ess8er when not full.of bees and honey.
The rear tilt is only fir harvesting but you can leave it on its side to side that creates issues sometimes with brace comb.
I put my rear tilt on early spring and off leading into out cold, wet weather in the UK winters.
For a complete Flow Hive, the bubble levels incorporate a 3° tilt backward, if assembled correctly. E.g. if you don’t have a leg kit with your FH2, there are 2 foot blocks to lift the front feet and level the hive correctly (as per side level).
It’s very important the hive has this tilt during harvest for the honey to flow in the right direction and it doesn’t matter if it has this tilt permanently. Sideways tilting can create problems though, as mentioned 