I completed a regular inspection 7 days ago and all was good. Thought I would wait 2 weeks when I estimated a harvest would be due. Today I just looking into end harvest area and could see all channels had a significant amount of honey in them.
Should I harvest as a matter of urgency or harvest in 1 week, as planned?
Last week on inspection I estimate 65-75% of flow frames were capped - enough uncapped to make me hold off.
I’ll try to add images, but outlet channels were about 1/3-1/2 filled with honey.
Is this ok or a serious issue?
Thank you
Pretty common @Rod300 .
Don’t ba alarmed it looks worse than it is as the hive is tilted back. Just give the caps a bit of a spin or take them out and clean the leak back points with a small stick or match. The bees will clean up the leak.
And to answer your first question… there is no need to harvest early. Wait until it is ready.
1 Like
If it doesn’t drain by doing this alone, you may want to put the harvesting tube in (to help clear the leak back point and prevent your water from entering the hive) and squirt some warm water 35-40°C into the tube/channel/trough, and maybe even use a pipe brush to clear any debris or larvae that may be inside.
1 Like
I agree with the 2 answers above, but I would also add that you might want to check your wire tension once you have harvested. Loose wires on the Flow frames can allow the frames to flex, breaking the wax seals and resulting in leaks. Best to fix it when the frames are empty, though. 
4 Likes
Thanks Dawn, I should have mentioned that too.
I set up a hive last week for a lady. The wires were so loose straight out of the box they were only crossed -no twists. I was nervous handling the frames as they were so floppy. The lady tensioned them up and is using them now but had I not been there she would have whacked them on unaware of the issues she could have had down the track.
2 Likes
Thanks - i imagined bees at risk of drowning etc. Cheers.
Thank you everyone - its great to have your expertise behind us relatively new keepers.
I did not see this last year at all so I was a bit concerned. Maybe after the first season those wires loosened a little.
Cheers all.
PS - i had images but cannot see where to attached anymore.
1 Like
If you look in the message window (where you type your reply) there is a row of symbols at the top. The 7th one from the left is an upload icon, and lets you upload JPEGs and ordinary images to the forum. You may have to wait a bit for the image to finish uploading - some connections are quite slow.
1 Like
Found it! Thank you Dawn.
1 Like
Cedar spoke about this on a recent video and suggested that the frames need to be closed with the key when they are new as the leaves that make-up the frame can move in transport, also when you close a frame after harvest you need to leave the key in the closed position for a couple of minutes as the mix of propolis,wax and honey can cause some segments to not close fully if you just turn the key and remove it.
1 Like
Thanks. That makes a lot of sense. I’ll monitor it this season but definitely do a dismantle clean next may/June when I remove the super.cheers