Hi there Flow Friends,
We’ve decided to start keeping bees after both my wife and I having fuzzy memories of our respective parents having hives when we were young. Now our kids, 5 year twins, are helping grow veggies in our garden, and learning about compost and flowers and pollination… and of course… bees!
We live in an urban area (Adamstown NSW) and thought “not enough space, too much messy equipment”
But then the more we looked into bees, and then found Flow hives, it became a no- brainer!
So here we are with our first hive ready, and just waiting for a nuc supplier to have a strong nuc ready for us.
Hoping to learn loads and loads from this adventure - hands- on, and from others in this group.
Btw, a pink beehive roof has been the only thing our kids have agreed on in the last 6 months.
Welcome to the forum where you will lots to read and folks here happy to give you tips and advice along the way. Don’t think your the only Flow Hive bee keepers in Newcastle, it seems to be a hive for bee keeping there.
A great age to start kids getting interested in nature and bee keeping, enjoy the experiance and the satisfaction of your own honey.
Cheers
With over 45 years of bee keeping I am still learning and enjoying my bees. Just when you think you have your head around bee keeping the bee change something to give you more to think about. Enjoy the ride though. At least you can predict it is unpredictable.
Cheers
Hi y’all, I’m from a little country town called Toodyay. It’s situated north of Perth, in Western Australia.
My Flow hive has just arrived and I’ve joined the forum to read everything I possibly can prior to putting my Flow Hive together.
I’m just a little excited. Just a tad. Squeeee.
Welcome to the forum where you can get good advice and info about local conditions Debi. There is going to be many times you are not sure about what to do as best practice for your bees and helping out with tips is one of many things the forum is handy for. Remember your not alone if you ask.
Cheers
Hello and welcome to the Flow forum. I am very happy that you decided to assemble your Flow hive. Please ask if we can help in any way. We do tease each other, and joke around quite a bit, but we are very friendly and want to be constructive and encouraging to new members.
Hi & welcome to the forum. I disagree with @fffffred. There IS such a thing as a silly question. One example: A person could ask what side of the frame do eyelets go. On 2 occasions I’ve seen eyelets fitted to the inside of frames. Maybe those people didn’t know & was afraid to ask.
Yes, I love it here. It’s hotter than Hades here at the moment. Although today’s movement ban was just lifted, so that bodes well.
Yes we have plenty of shade on our property. We have a small creek filled with flooded gums that runs through our place, which is where I plan on establishing the hive.
I still haven’t cracked the boxes though, as I’m reading up on everything first.
Thank you @Peter48. Truth be told my head is spinning with all the information I’ve absorbed so far. Trying hard to believe I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew here.
…or one could ask what eyelets are and what on earth they’re doing on a frame?
I’m fairly certain I will ask more than one silly question, but if it means that our girls (which I have yet to order) will be safer and healthier, then I’m not above asking.
Hi Debbie, feel free to ask, for sure. The metal eyelets go into the holes on the sides of the frames before fitting the wire, so that the wire doesn’t cut into the wood. The wire is for fitting wax foundation to. I recommend wax foundation as opposed to no foundation, however I’ve never felt the need to fit the metal eyelets before wiring up the frames. I manage to get away without using them.
When you get the bees in your first hive and lift the roof off for your first inspection it is good to get a bout of brain fizz and head spin. It is good because you realize you have a lot to learn and pretty fast so you will be a better bee keeper. I helped a friend who was a commercial bee keeper and worked in his hives but it was another thing to open my own hives on my own.
No question or thoughts are silly so don’t feel you shouldn’t ask. It is all about doing the best you can do for your bees. You are lucky to have the internet and this forum, 45 years ago I was lucky to have a mentor who answered my questions. Learning good practices in bee keeping is a book with no end page, you never will know it all, but will feel more confident about using the information you have.
Cheers
What kind of help are you looking for? We can help with knowledge and experience, but it seems that you already have that. If you are looking for workers or funding, this isn’t really the right place. I hope that there is something useful that we can help with.
