Hey everyone! I saw the ad for the new flowhive 2 on facebook and a week later, here I am awaiting my new hive and bees in May! I’m studying Ecological Conservation so having my own bees just really fits in with everything I love and I am so keen to get as much knowledge as I can to start my first colony…so this is where you guys come in! So hello, nice to meet you all!
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Welcome to the forum Merry, you will find heaps of reading here along with a friendly bunch of people happy to give good advice. I would also look for a local bee group in the Devon area and join in to get local advice and hand on experience. The first time you lift the roof on a hive is daunting so before you set up your own colony it is better to do that with somebody else explaining what you are seeing for the first time.
Cheers
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Hello and welcome, Merry! I think you’re going to love beekeeping, and I hope you check in often as you get started. This forum is a wonderful resource!
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Good morning all!
I’m just embarking on my bee keeping journey… so will be looking for lots of advice from the more experienced members.
Quick question…
I have purchased my flow hive 2, joined my local association, done my beginners bee keeping course, but I now find it almost impossible to find anyone who sells bees in a langstroth nuc! I am based in Ireland And apparently most bee keepers use national or commercial hives here. If any of you know a supplier or someone in Ireland who would sell bees in a langstroth nuc id really appreciate letting me know. Thanks in advance.
My husband put our flow hive together today and I am painting it with a the strongest uv paint I could get. I live in Maleny where it rains a lot.
I am super excited to get started. I have found traditional beekeepers not so keen to assist.
I have been planting a flower garden for years and hope this will help my new colony. I do have a colony in an old gum tree that was chopped for wildlife hollows. I had two of these in this tree but only one now.
I would like to buy a gentle queen and will continue putting more flowers in the garden for the natives and my new colony.
I have hit @JimM up to draw his attention to your question, he is a bee keeper in Ireland also so I am sure he can advise you. He is on the site regularly and sure he will enjoy helping.
Cheers
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I’m down at Coolum Beach and glad you have opted to painting the hive in preference to tung oil. A really good paint that is mold resistance is really important in our climate.
I began bee keeping 47 years ago and it was all traditional bee keeping then, I now have 4 Flow Hive is my apiary of about 35 all up. Most of us on the site are bee keepers first and foremost, after that most are Flow hive owners or a mix like myself. But really both systems are the same except for how the honey is extracted.
When you say you would like to buy a gentle queen is the hive queen-less or the colony is on the anti social side? I guess your hive is the pine version?
Cheers
Hi Peter,
Thanks for your response.
I don’t have any bees for my hive.
I don’t want the ones I buy to fight with existing hives. I have several native hives around as well.
My hive is the Australian hardwood.
Do you have a Queen to sell?
Suzanne
Love is all there is😀
Hi Gearoid, welcome to beekeeping. You did the right thing by doing the course and joining your local association.
Yes, you are correct, National and Commercial are the main types of hives used in Ireland, but some people do use Langstroth and most of the bee supply shops sell Langstroth equipment. Unfortunately the people who sell nucs all seem to operate in National equipment as that is where the market is.
I dont know any Langsroth beeks myself but I suggest you ask people in your association if they have any members and approach them directly. They might be pleased to learn of somebody looking for a Langstroth nuc as they wouldnt nornmally have a merket for a nuc.
Failing that have you seen the first post below. This would allow you to house the National nuc in a Langstroth brood box, add proper Langsroth frames with foundation around the central national frames, and replace and rotate them out over the season.
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Many thanks JimM , I have put question to my association but no luck so far. Thanks for the modification link , I think that will ge a big help .
Much appreciated
Welcome to the Flow forum! You already had a perfect answer from @JimM, so I have nothing to add except…
Not very common in the UK (likely to be the same in Ireland), but some bee suppliers will make a “package” of bees for you. This is 1 - 1.5kg of nurse bees shaken off brood frames into a special cage. They usually come with a queen, but if not, you will need to buy one at the same time. You can then just release those bees into your hive, and they will use whatever size frame is in there.
For a beginner, I would always suggest a nucleus. They are far less likely to “abscond” and are already pretty strong and have brood when you start. However, a package is a good option for those with non-standard hive types (Langstroth in Europe, Warre, top bar etc). 
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Many thanks for advice
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Many thanks for your help Peter48
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Hi everyone, Doreen here from France. I am a learner beekeeper having one traditional hive which I help to manage with a French friend. I have been given a Flow Hive 6 frame and am just assembling it. I have a few questions as my beekeeper friend is no longer able to coach me would be grateful of any help!
Cheers
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You have found the right place for advice on Flow Hives and bee keeping in general Doreen. Lots of reading and some great folks with heaps of experience happy to help you along as you go with advice.
Cheers and welcome to the forum.
Hello everyone,I’m new to bee keeping and new to this forum. I live in Victoria on the Mornington Peninsula. I’ve just put my bees into their new brood box last week and wondering if I’ll be adding the super, this late in the season? I bought a nuc of 5 frames and they are now in an 8 frame brood box. Also, for reference, I purchased the flow hybrid with 3 flow frames and 4 regular frames for honey comb. I’d welcome any advice you can offer.
Hi @tamara.
It would be to early to install super so soon after nuc installation. Your colony probably is not large enough even for single box yet. You may search this forum and find plenty of stories about of all sorts of problems caused by early super installation. Mainly about diseases and pests. A colony may service and protect nest size proportionate to its size. I would not recommended to add a box until you see at least 7 of 8 frames well populated. Again, the size of population alone is not a reason to add honey super. Think that super is not a part of the hive but a beekeeping tool. If bees produce excess of honey, put super on to collect it. If not, there is no reason for super to be there.
Nuc is not strong enough colony to hope for harvest. Rather, it is beekeeper’s turn to feed them now. Feed even if there is plenty of nectar around. It frees a lot of worker bees for other tasks around a hive, like building comb, carrying about brood, etc. and speeds up growth of the colony as the result.
Also, it worth to read this as primer and continue from there 
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Thankyou so much for your reply So I should add a feeder? Do I put this on the lid but under the roof?
Not sure if I understand correctly. If the lid is this (aka inner cover):
and roof is this:
than, yes. Feeder goes between them.
There are several types of feeders, rapid, gravity, entrance etc.
For your current purpose a large feeder is not needed, something that hold a couple of litres will do.
You may choose a rapid feeder like this:
Central pipe of the feeder goes into the hole in the centre of inner cover.
You may make gravity/contact feeder. It could be made out of a jar of or pail with lid. The lid must be tight and not leaking. Poke few holes with a thin nail in the lid (they must be within inner cover hole diameter). Fill jar/pail full with sugar syrup, put lid on the vessel turn it over and put lid down over the hole in inner cover. I would test it first away from hive to make sure there is no catastrophic leakage.
This type of feeder will not fit under the roof, but you may put empty super on top of inner cover to accommodate the height of the vessel and put roof on top of it.
What is condition of those three frames added to original nuc? Drawn, wax foundation only, plastic, something else?