I think there would be a way, but someone else more experienced might need to advise. I know that the colony that remains in your hive can sometimes end up without a properly mated and laying queen, so the colony can die if that situation is not managed too.
Hi Ellen, is this your first winter? Good luck! We are in Seattle so share some climate challenges. Our bees are going into winter strong and with a lot of honey. They were able to fend off the long season of pesky yellowjackets. We have found that the length of the wet/cold seems to be the defining factor on how and if they make it through the winter.
Letās compare notes!
When you say āmeshā it makes me think you are talking about the screened bottom board, not the queen excluder. I would think your Flow kit came with a list of items and what theyāre called, did you happen to see that when you unpacked it? ā¦orā¦could this be a knockoff product?? Iām inclined to think the satay stick thing you mentioned is perhaps the queen excluder, but yes, please post pics if you can.
My Flow kit came with a plastic queen excluder, basically a thin, grid-like mat. Some are made of metal, but Iāve never seen or heard of one made of satay sticks. Of course, I know Flow has introduced new setupsā¦
Thatās pretty odd tooā¦again Iām wondering about the source of your āFlow hiveā 
1 Like
It looks pretty clear to me in the official Flow instruction manual. See page 5 of this document:
https://www.honeyflow.com/media/docs/Flow_Hive_Instruction_Manual_WEB_290517.pdf
The piece with the white pullout slider goes on the bottom. The box without windows goes on next, and the diagram shows that it is filled with frames (item 12 in the diagram). The frames which Flow supplies come unassembled. If you bought a hive with 6 Flow frames, you should have enough parts to make 8 standard frames = 8 top bars, 8 bottom bars and 16 side bars. You will need nails and glue to assemble them.
Once the brood box is full of bees with all frames full of drawn comb, you put the queen excluder on top. This is a sheet of white or yellow plastic in most Flow kits. The Flow super and plastic frames go on top of this. Then the inner cover is always the on top of the highest box (brood box until it is full, or Flow super when you put that on. Then the roof.
Hopefully you have it sorted out by now, but if not, photos would really help us to help you.
The frames should be there. If you have a genuine Flow hive, you can contact Flow support, or ask @Faroe to get missing parts sent out. They will need your original order number. The assembly manual even tells you how to build the frames, and page 5 tells you to put them into the brood box:
1 Like
Hi again Dawn,
Thank you for your perseverance, much appreciated.
I have woke up to the fact that my hive is a knock of, from the original, thus instructions leave much to be desired and no frames were included. From your attached Instās of the ORGINAL Flow hive, itās apparent the mesh goes on the bottom, though unblike the Flow hive in the attachment, there is no provision to slide this in. (Intend to resolve that shortly) Similarly, there is also no provision for the slide in/out bottom board.
As posted earlier, I have now installed Frames and the bees are busy at work, doing what they do.
Thank you all for your most helpful advice. Much appreciated.
Regards,
1 Like
Thatās a bummerā¦but please in no way let it stop you from enjoying all the amazing support & information here 
2 Likes
Thank you Eva,
Would you believe, the bees Vacated their new plush residency yesterday for sunnier climes ???
Dunno what their problem was/is.
Though it was a cold day, and overcast, they did swarm about 10 feet away in a nice sunny spot ???
I picked up the hive box, placed it near them and left them to their own devices, evening came and I noticed they were returning back into their new residence.
I took the hint, and moved the hive this morning to a sunnier location and keep fingers crossed, it meets with their strict criteria.
Cheers.
3 Likes
Hi everyone. Iām brand new to bees. So brand new I donāt even have any. My husband and our four kids have a little over and acre in qld a Sunshine Coast. We keep chooks and ducks and some sheep to keep the grass down. Iāve got a nice little veggie patch that I am trying to expand. Thought bees would be a great addition to help the garden along. We just bought a flow starter pack and looking forward to learning about and then finally setting up a hive soon.
2 Likes
Welcome to the Flow forum. You will find lots of good reading and advice here. Depending on your location on the Sunshine Coast, you might want to see whether @JeffH has some nice bees that he could sell. He is in Buderim. He has been willing to mentor new beekeepers in the past, but I think he is trying to reduce his traveling these days, but you could always ask. He is a nice bloke - I have chatted with him and his wife Wilma on the phone. 
3 Likes
Thanks for the kind welcome Dawn 
Iām really looking forward to the learning process. I will have to look up @JeffH and see if he is willing to mentor me in this new journey. My hive arrived yesterday and today. Iām just starting to think about whether to pain or stain or what is best to use to protect it from the elements. Iāll be off to search the forums to see what others have to say about it. Itching to get started, but want to go slow enough that I donāt make any mistakes. Also need to decide on what type of bees are best for beginners in my area. Canāt wait!
That will depend on what kind of wood you hive. If it is a cedar hive, they look very nice when sealed with Tung Oil. However, if it is pine, you really should paint it with a good quality exterior house paint. The best colour is white, because it reflects heat better than any other tone. If you really canāt do white, pick as light a colour as possible. I would do at least 2 coats, even if it is self-priming. If you have the Flow super, you will find it easier to paint or seal it before you put the perspex window in the side. Otherwise it is tricky to keep the sealant off the window. 
You donāt need to paint the inside of the boxes, as the bees will seal that with wax pretty quickly. I think @JeffH does paint inside, but he is a little bit strange about some things.
I would paint or seal the hive at least 2 weeks before installing the bees.
3 Likes
Hi Bella, feel free to phone me any time. Itās 54454602.
If your hive is hoop pine, I prefer to treat it with copper naphthenate first. Then a couple or 3 coats of white paint over that, inside & out. Hoop pine just doesnāt take the weather too good untreated, with paint only. Thatās been my experience.
Yes I have to agree with @Dawn_SD about being a little bit strange 
However nobody told my bees about waxing the inside of the boxes. In weather like weāve been experiencing latelyā¦ they need to be treated.
1 Like
If I can ever get my feeder-covering deeps off the hives, I will get some photos of the beautifully waxed interiors - looks like matt varnished furniture. However, my bees are in California, so perhaps they are not as laid back as subtropical Aussie beesā¦ 
Perhaps washboarding behaviour is an undetected method bees use for waxing flat surfaces???!!! 
@Dawn_SD my hive is the red cedar flow hive with a super. Will the tung oil be enough in this wet weather we keep having do you think @JeffH? Also, Iām hoping to get started early in January if I can get the hive ready and source the right bees. It will all be a bit hectic here as we approach Christmas. Iām hoping I can get everything done in time. A friend who lives an hr away said she was told that you can start a hive around here up until about March, but I am not sure if that is correct advice.
Hi Bella,
I found the cedar hive does best with several layers of tung oil and the top of the roof undercoated and painted with house paint. The paint seals all the gaps and it looks good too.
1 Like
Jeff doesnāt use Tung Oil, but plenty of people in humid and wet climates do. It is a great non-toxic coating, and I use it on all of my cedar hives. The only downside is that you need to re-coat once per year, but that is pretty easy, and I have done it with the boxes still on the hive. Cedar is very slow to rot, so the Tung oil is a good choice. Make sure you get 100% pure - the commercial finishes with Tung Oil in them are often filled with other chemicals and solvents.
Just search the forum with the magnifying glass at the top right to get lots of posts about Tung Oil, including where to get it in Australia.
1 Like
Sceneyās Tung oil is good. Cut with 50/50 citrus solvent for the first coat (must both be pure) is good and may get deeper into the wood than paint. I have seen unpainted /uncoated cedar and that ages to look nice too.
2 Likes
Jeff will know for sure. He has around 100 hives and has been professionally beekeeping for years.
1 Like