Today I had my third havest.
My previous harvest was on october 5. five weeks ago.
I experienced some spillage/ leaking from the Floframes into the brood box and on to the coreflute sheet.
Some bees were caught up in honey deluge and died. Others mopped up the spilled honey.
Today absolutely no leakage and all went smoothly.
The total harvest was 21.3 Kilos.
The little foragers have collected this amount in just five weeks.
I am truly amazed.
Within the next day or so they will set about removing the wax capping and start all over again.
Wow!
Was that 21.3kg on this single harvest?
Yes, 21.3 kilos of honey from a single harvest today.
How many flow frames did you harvest?
Sheeeeesh! I wish we had weather like that!
Dee,
Me too ! We usually get one month that’s really like summer (August) then the sun really starts marching southward n days turn cooler n shorter rapidly. Our squash leave get mildew because the increased dampness. This my girls are still working on very late season English Ivy nectar n yellow pollen.
Lost two colonies to the mites. Live n learn or get out of bees. I choose to learn n keep on keeping on. Still have three health colonies. One flow-hive, one double deep 5 frame Nuc n one 10 frame Langstroth. I added the full frames into the other health hives from the die-outs n harvested one gallon of honey from the partials. Yummy n unexpected as I’d not planned harvesting anything.
. After I hand harvested (don’t have a spinner) I was able to taste my 1 gallon plus bounty on toast … Yummy. There’s no better honey than ones own I think. (Maybe that’s pride ).Wow ! I’ve really carried on here … Better post n get some house work n laundry finished.
Cheers.
Gerald
Six Floframes.
Standard flo hive.
Glad to read of your success! I also had very good results with harvests after the first time around.
Here is a video of how it went for those who may be interested.
No more leaking inside as happened with the first harvest… BONUS
Great video. I am amazed at the transition of your opinion, and impressed with your open-mindedness. Fantastic stuff, thank you very much.
Hello Fred
What a wonderful Video with great photography.
You have excellent communication skills.
It is good to learn the flooding that occured with the first harvest no longer occurs
Just how does a bee learn to plug up a hole that only leaked honey for a very short period of time ?
I continue to be amazed at what they do.
Regards
Stan
Hi Stan,
Thank you for the compliment!
It's not so much that they are learning to locate and plug holes from prior leaking, but rather that they are continually working up the wax extensions to the FlowFrame plastic components. When they remove the caps from the drained cells of the FlowFrames, during restoration they fill more gaps etc with new wax. This makes a more complete and unified seal across the entire frame and that's what improves with each successive extraction.
Thank you for that question!
Fred
On November 17, 2016 at 12:39 AM stan <honeyflow@discoursemail.com> wrote:November 17
Hello Fred
What a wonderful Video with great photography.
You have excellent communication skills.
It is good to learn the flooding that occured with the first harvest no longer occurs
Just how does a bee learn to plug up a hole that only leaked honey for a very short period of time ?
I continue to be amazed at what they do.
Regards
Stan
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In Reply To
Frederick_J_DunnNovember 17Glad to read of your success! I also had very good results with harvests after the first time around. Here is a video of how it went for those who may be interested. No more leaking inside as happened with the first harvest… BONUS
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Thank you Dawn, I continue to lean more and more towards FlowHive methods.
I gave a presentation yesterday to a beekeepers association at our Environmental Center and interest continues to grow while skeptics decline.
It’s a great time to be keeping bees and FlowHives make it all the more interesting!
Thanks,
Fred
Hiya @Fredrick_J_Dunn, great vid, it’s good to hear the success.
Couple of quick questions for you or anyone else who can answer about your top entrance.
When the foragers bring back nectar don’t they give it to the house bees who in turn transfer it to the cells?
Do the foragers carrying pollen use the top entrance then go through the qx to the brood box? I’m assuming they don’t put it into the FF.
Thanks.
Yes, the nectar carrying bees will hand the nectar over and the pollen carrying bees will put the pollen in the brood box themselves. Bees like pollen next to the brood.The only time I’ve seen pollen in the super is when it’s time to add another brood box.
Hi Skeggley,
Yes, when foragers use an upper entrance, they are met inside by what I refer to as "storekeeper bees", those interior workers then collect and store whatever resources are being brought in.
Then the store-keeper bees (that never leave the hive) put those resources where they are most needed. Pollen packs definitely make their way down into the lower brood boxes and are packed into the fringe cells near the brood.
Nectar is put in any available cells, again by the interior storekeepers, during the day and often those nectar resources are reorganized at night when things have slowed down.
Lots of interesting activity going on inside and it is unceasing. Field nectar gatherers are often met right on the honey super frames and they take the nectar right there, OR, they even reject what the forager is bringing in and that forager just goes outside and sits around if rejected with a full load of nectar.
I have not seen them reject pollen though.
On November 18, 2016 at 3:52 AM skeggley <honeyflow@discoursemail.com> wrote:November 18
Hiya @Fredrick_J_Dunn, great vid, it's good to hear the success.
Couple of quick questions for you or anyone else who can answer about your top entrance.
When the foragers bring back nectar don’t they give it to the house bees who in turn transfer it to the cells?
Do the foragers carrying pollen use the top entrance then go through the qx to the brood box? I’m assuming they don’t put it into the FF.
Thanks.
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In Reply To
Frederick_J_DunnNovember 17Glad to read of your success! I also had very good results with harvests after the first time around. Here is a video of how it went for those who may be interested. No more leaking inside as happened with the first harvest… BONUS
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