No honey production

my hive was colonized march 2020
its been healthy since with out any major problems
i have a mentor who is a very experienced bee keeper. how ever its his first encounter with flowhive
the problem:
at the brood box every thing is fine but there is no honey production in the super. the regular hives which are next to mine where harvested a few weeks back and are now filing up quickly
it is as if the bees dont know what to do with the plastic frames of the super
the frame is at the right position

this is the second year of a healthy functional broodbox but no super production
looking for advise to understsnd the problem
tnx
nitai

Hi @nitai - welcome! Have you seen this thread?

Not sure that the first year can count toward too much as the colony may still have been getting established.

Check out the thread that @Eva shared and try some of those tricks.

Maybe put the flow super on one of the other hives and see if they work it.

Do you have any current pictures from the side and back windows from the Flow super you could share?

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this is the second year of no production

it was colonized march 2020

this is the second summer of a very happy brood box with little interest in the super

Yes, I understood your initial post.

Have you tried anything to encourage the bees to work the flow frames or do you have any pictures?




tnx Eva
Can you explain how to use burr or wax in the super in order to help the bees
how and where to put it in the super?

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Looks ok in there, maybe not a really high number of bees. Don’t see the queen on those two brood frame pictures. Only a little bit of honey and no visible pollen. Can’t make out any eggs or open brood in your pictures but I think that is probably just because of the angle and resolution because otherwise, the brood pattern looks good.

It does look like they are doing some work on the flow frames, completing the cells but no nectar visible to me.

Some hives are (genetically?) more productive than others even under the same conditions. Maybe if nothing improves, try requeening. Not sure what the best time to do that is in your location…

Hi Nitai, that frame of brood you’re holding looks beautiful. If all the rest were like that, you shouldn’t have any trouble at all.

One trick you could try would be to entice the bees into the honey super by removing the 3 middle flow frames & replacing them with sealed brood from the same hive or donate them from another stronger hive. Then you’d have to move the remaining flow frames towards the center to close the gaps, leaving temporary gaps on the sides. You need to elevate the traditional frames on one end so as to avoid the bottom bar from sitting on the QX. I suggested this strategy to @Bean19 & it worked well for her.

In doing so, you can remove any brood frames that are below par, & place them above the QX to get cycled out after the brood has emerged & replaced with honey.

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Sure thing. Some people melt their chunks of burr comb and paint the wax on across the face of the Flow frames with a disposable brush. Others, including me, just ran a piece of it across like a piece of cheese on a cheese grater. Enough bits cling to the jagged surface and give the plastic a better scent.

I agree with Alok and Jeff though, and I don’t think there’s cause for concern. I wonder if you were aware of how much building they have to do before they can start storing nectar in the Fframes? Since your colony was new last season they were getting established, and it this season they are preparing the frames. If you get a fall flow there might be some stored this year, but at least there’s a good chance of the waxing getting done this season. After that, you can expect to super a strong colony in a good flow and see amazing results!

i spread some wax from an old frame on the super frame
i will update for progress
thank you



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Hey @JeffH hope all well with you. Need to catch up soon. Yes Jeff’s suggested method is now my go to with “Flow frame reluctant bee’s” and it works every time , within days they are happily up there working on the plastic. I actually wonder if its because the young bee’s emerge up in the super that they don’t seem to have the bias that their older siblings have . In any case, for me it’s been a winner . Thank you Jeff, your knowledge is insurmountable :blush:

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Hi Anita, we wondered how things were going for you & if your bees are still performing for you. Things are hectic here, which is self inflicted really. We spent some time getting my boat ready to go to sea again. Since then we’ve done 4 overnight trips in the boat in the last 6 weeks, just recreation fishing. I spent most of yesterday filleting fish after getting home on Sunday afternoon. Then this morning I was out robbing the bees.

I have put on the super in the past few weeks as the nectar flow is starting, I have tons of bees, a full brood box and they are very busy in the super playing in the comb and bearding at the entrance. However I can see very little wax and no nectar in the cells. Any suggestions to get them doing their honey making thing?
Thanks for any advice

At this point it sounds like all you need is a little patience!

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