New to the forum, from Missouri. I have kept bees for several years and am very interested in the Flow Hive. I have a complete Flow Hive on order (hopefully delivered in February) and will look forward to hear how others are doing with this new hive idea.
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We live in Mo have one coming as well. Brand new to bees ready to learn.
Bought our hive back in June 2016, so that we could start in spring of 2017. We live about 20 min west of St. Louis. Now all I need is my bees!
It’s a great hobby! We are quite a distance away, but if you need to get
started with bees we do split hives in the spring.
Hi all. I have 2 flow hives I will be using to get started in beekeeping this year. I’m just outside of Smithville Lake. I’d love to find a mentor near me!
Hi! I’m new to the forum and to beekeeping as well. We are setting up our FlowHive at our farm in Cameron, MO. I am also looking for bees and for a mentor and/or a local newbie to chat with about this. I did get a tip today from a guy who sells bees in KC. He helped set up a FlowHive last year and recommended lightly spraying sugar water in the upper part of the hive to tempt the bees to move to those upper frames. Otherwise, the bees were not going where they needed to go in a timely manner. To MRMXDUP, are you near KC and do you still have bees to offer? To Shelleyb, have you found a bee club near Smithville? Thanks!
We live near Springfield Mo, so it would be a way to travel. Yes we still
have a couple of new colonies.
MrMXDUP
Hi Jcjones - yes there is a bee club that meets in Smithville. The next meeting is on March 21st at 6:30 pm at the Library.
I have two flowhives and I’m a newbie too, so I’d love to meet you and compare notes!
Shelley
Great to know, Shelley! Thanks so much. We will try to get to Smithville for the next club meeting. Have you already ordered your bees, or did you have colonies that made it through winter? We have an old pear tree on our farm and we are trying not to worry about the latest cold snap–there were buds all over it a week ago. Last year we had no pears because of a late frost.
Jeanne
Hi Jeanne - I ordered 2 nucs but I won’t get them until mid may. I’m so jealous of all the people getting their bees in April. But my supplier says they are Missouri raised queens/nucs and that they will be a month along in May instead of the package bees people are getting in April, so I’m hoping that was a good decision. Do you have bees?
We don’t have them yet, but you bring up exactly the point why–I would like to get “local” bees and the suppliers I’ve called in the KC area seem to be going to Texas or Georgia to get theirs. In my newbie opinion, it seems best to get Missouri bees if you’re beekeeping in Missouri so I support your decision, for what that’s worth! :)) Can you tell me your supplier? I know of Crooked Hill in Chillicothe and Ed Fisher in Smithville but haven’t called either yet. It’s getting late in the game, I know.
I ordered from Fisher bees. Mrs. Fisher tells me she gets bees raised in
Missouri. $150 per nuc.
I live in Parkville, Missouri. My Flow hive is ready. I get my bee package from Honey Hive Farm on April 17. They are fron Winfield, Missouri and raise bees locally. They make an April and a May delivery run. They are sold out for April, but still have Some May packages available. http://www.honeyhivefarms.com/
Hi there! We are picking up our bees today from Lee’s Summit. How did your installation go? How goes the flow so far? We have a farm in Cameron, MO, but live near KC. I’m nervous about the whole process! Our bee guy said to bring our brood box and he’d put the 5 frames of bees in it for us, but I’m not sure how that’ll work with how the Flow hive is designed. I would greatly appreciate any thoughts, advice, suggestions you may have!
So far so good. I got my bee package on April 17 and the installation went great. Released the queen 3 days later. I am now on day18 and my first 8 frame brood box is about 60% drawn in comb. The queen is actively laying. When the first brood box is 80% drawn I am going to add a 2nd brood box and only when that 2nd box is 80% full of comb will I add the queen excluder and the Flow hive super. The 2 brood boxes will have honey for the bees and their Winter survival. The Flow hive super will be for me.
You obviously purchased a 5 frame nuc as opposed to a package. No problem with that. I would strongly recommend that you add a 2nd brood box before you add the box with the Flow frames. At our latitude and Winter weather bees need about 50 pounds of honey to survive the winter. 2 brood boxes will provide that. If we have a good summer with a good nectar Flow, then you will have ample time to add the Flow hiveafter the 2 brood boxes are full and get a honey harvest this year. If the summer is not as good, you may not get honey until next year.
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I live just south of Kansas City, MO in Stilwell, KS. My beekeeper friend put a “nuc” in about a week ago. We added another brood box yesterday. They are very active and enjoying the new hive.
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Robert Burns, in Prairie Village, is with North Kansas Bee Keepers Association. He’s on FB and has been very helpful with his comments. I live in Stilwell.
Thanks for this info, Brick! The five frames we got yesterday were pretty full of comb and the bees seemed mellow and productive. However, our bee guy wasn’t able to spot the queen. He wasn’t concerned so we’re trying not to be! We set up the brood box with its base on a stand with just the inner cover and the roof/lid on top. We still have to remove the screen taped over the hole in the inner cover, but we’ll do that tomorrow. Our bee guy recommended we leave the white corrugated board in the upper position to keep out intruders. Good idea or no? He’s not 100% on board with the Flow Hive because he’s concerned the bees will get hungry in the winter, which is what your recommendation would solve, correct? We are wondering if it would also work to do a medium as our second brood box, instead of the full size. What do you think? We are cool with not getting much or any honey this year. I thank you in advance for your advice! And p.s. do you go to a beekeeping club in Parkville? We enjoyed the one that meets in Smithville but haven’t been able to get back there yet.
I would absolutely leave the corrugated board in the upper position. Since the Flow hive brood boxes are 8 frame boxes I would use a deep 8 frame box as your 2nd brood box. I don’t think an 8 frame medium would give the bees enough honey to survive our winters. I would error on the side of being over stocked. As far as being anti-Flow hive, it sounds like your bee guy is a tradionalist. Stick with the Flow hive despite his protest. Inspect your hive every 7 to 10 days. If we have a good nectar flow summer you should be able to get 2 deep 8 frame brood boxes going and get some honey from your flow frames. If not wait until next year. I have not attended a local bee club, but hope to attend the next Smithville meeting. There is not a Parkville club. Maybe I should start one??? 
Hi again, Brick. We just got an email about the next meeting of the Northland Beekeepers. In case you didn’t get it, the meeting is May 16 at the Mid-Continent Library in Smithville. They’ll have Q & A from 6:30-7, then a program to follow. There are plans for a June picnic as well–they’ll probably talk about that at the meeting as well. We plan to attend and we’ll hope to meet you if you’re able to go too! We are picking up our 2nd brood box (8-frame deep) tomorrow in Chillicothe. We appreciate your advice!