Perth (WA, AU) Flowhives and honey flow

Hi Alex, are you in Canada or Perth? Your profile address says Canada.

Hello Faroe!
From Canada, my wife is from Perth

Cheers, Alex

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Has anyone else noticed that the trees and flowering plants have started to bud as if spring is on our doorstep? Weā€™ve still got over a month of winter left but the trees around my area have all started to bud slightly earlier this year (I first started to notice it a couple of weeks ago).

Fingers crossedā€¦

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Different location in Australia, but thereā€™s a post here about early blooms:

I live in stirling but have a friend who lives in wanneroo and he might be able to help with sourcing a swarm (if thats what u want) to start a hive in following spring

Or u can join the Apiarists society and we meet 1st thursday of every month in south perth

There are folks whove been doing this for decades so a wealth of info easily sourced and small discounts to bee suppliers locally

Or email me with yr mobile if u like and ill have a chat when im able to.

Hi Alex,

Iā€™m the reverse. Wife is from Canada. I live up Wanneroo way. Feel free to get in touch.

Cheers

Alan

Over on the east coast it has been a very mild winter with the native bush scene behaving like it is Spring time already, Wattle, and Red Gums are flowering like crazy, also a white flowering Eucalyptus has just come on. Hives are busy with pollen and nectar.
I have had to do splits that I was figuring for mid-late August and took a frame of capped honey about 10 days ago from each hive. All the signs are for a very early and strong flow season.
Cheers

Iā€™m trying to source 800ml plastic pails here in town. To keep the cost down Iā€™ll likely buy bulk. Iā€™ve found a couple of suppliers in Canningvale and Welshpool but would like to hear if others have recommendations.
Thanks.
And @SnowflakeHoney, yes Iā€™ve mentioned earlier how our opportunistic natives are sowing their seeds irregularly and am surprised to see the swamp gums here in the hills budding up again for the third time in a year. Iā€™ve even seen some Marri blossoms around. Iā€™d like to say itā€™s weird however I havenā€™t really paid attention in the pastā€¦ Itā€™s going to be a busy spring, hopefully I get an opportunity to get into the hives before they start planning their escape. Two years ago it rained through spring and one of the colonys here swarmed on the first fine day.

Have you tried Silverlock? Thatā€™s where Iā€™ve previously bought jars and buckets from.

http://www.silverlock.com.au

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Thanks Snowy, I went there today and bought a minimum order of 750ml pails with yellow lids. (1kg honey apparently.)
Minimum order was per box 320 pieces incl lids @ $0.79 each.
I donā€™t need this many and am happy to sell half of them on at $0.80 each if anyone is interested, any quantity. They are Australian made and yes, I was shocked too that we still manufactured something here!!!
They do not have tamper proof lids. Tamper proof lids are single use plastic so went for the reusable (cheaper) ones. Food grade plastic.
Now I need labels.

Edit.
They are tamper proof pails after all and added a pic.

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@skeggley No issues. Glad it was of use. I too was surprised when I first bought containers from them and found they were local.

Do you happen to know if the pails you got are dishwasher safe? I prefer to wash the containers I use in the dishwasher. So far Iā€™ve been using glass jars so washing in a dishwasher hasnā€™t been a cause for concern.

Hi there,Iā€™m new too,(in bullsbrook) ,building my hive next week,hopefully get my bees in September.

Have you pre-ordered your bees? If not youā€™ll need to find someone doing a split or catch a swarm. Iā€™m imagine youā€™d be very lucky to go to BW or elsewhere, place an order now for a nuc and get it in Sept.

Anyone have this problemā€¦ Bees escaping through a horizontal gap under flow frames but above the metal strip. Quite sure Iā€™ve constructed hive correctly. Screws are screwed out and frames jammed as far back as possible.???

Have you scraped off any wax or propolis build up on the top where the frames are seated? Have you checked to make sure the frames arenā€™t catching on each other (the wire) and collectively holding each other up?

Only time I had this issue was at the very start after an inspection when the frames caught on each other (the stainless wire that holds them together). Fiddled them slightly and all sat fine.

This is how your Flow frames should sit.

So there is can be no escaping. Check your fitting.

@busso is that a recent photo? If so, Iā€™m jealous at how full those frames seemā€¦ :tongue:

Iā€™ll check but I quite certain that they are sitting correctly. Here are some other shots


@BecW you definitely have the frames incorrectly fitted. Look again at the picture @busso posted which is 100% correct. I live in the South East Hills. If you live nearby I am happy to help you set up the hive.

No March 2018. Just thought the shot showed @BecW where the frames should sit.