Hi Dave
If there is plenty of flowering in Albany.
I think I would add the super, looks like the bees are going pretty well. I am in Perth, and I added my flow super about 6 days ago and the girls are busy working on them.
Cheers Tim
1 Like
Hi Tim.
Thanks for the advice.
Definitely a bumper year for flowers and no shortage of them down this way.
1 Like
How many brood boxes are the norm here in Perth?
Commercial and hobbyist.
Iād say one. I was chatting to a few folk from WAAS about this the other week and the conclusion was one. Iāve really only seen regular mention of two brood boxes by some of the folk from the east coast.
For the record, I have one brood box and Iām a hobbyist. 
1 Like
I have one brood box on my current hive.
About 15 years ago I had a few hives and only kept one brood box on them as well. Be interesting to see what other people do.
1 Like
10 frame or 8 frame? Iām not convinced a single 8 frame brood box is big enough, which is what I believe is one of the failings of using the 8 frame box to save weight. In saying that, you should still have no issues running one brood box, especially if you have a good flow!
I am also running one brood box at the moment. Our initial hive was essentially still a Nuc going into last winter as we received it so late in summer. It survived winter, but did get down to very low numbers by the end of our prolonged winter! My main concerns with running a single deep are 1) if I have a brood box full of bees come winter what are they going to eat to get them through? And 2) I think swarm control will potentially difficult (ie no checkerboarding), unless I am going to make endless splits of each hive. That said our local bee shop says 8 frame full is fine.
My current plan is to leave them as a single brood box but make sure that by winter they have a full standard (non-flow) super of honey come winter. I will then probably remove the queen excluder for winter (though a few people Iāve spoken to in Perth do not) and then rearrange and re-instate the excluder come spring depending on where the queen has laid. I was thinking of putting the honey super above the crown board in the hope that they wonāt think of that as the hive and just rob it not lay inā¦
I think Itās just a process of trial and error. Next spring I want more bees in my hive ready to rock, so I need to keep numbers up better & want a system where I donāt have to feed them so they need honey. Hopefully this one will work.
Cheers,
Julia
2 Likes
Rbk mine is an 8 frame Flowhive.
Julie so far this year to control swarming I check the brood box regularly and make sure the queen has room by transferring brood frames (minus bees) to the super and place fresh foundation/drawn comb into the brood box between frames with brood on them, if the hive gets to strong I would have to a split or offer brood frames to another bee keeper, making sure no disease etc.
Cheers Tim
1 Like
Thanks Tim - that sounds like a good plan and I will try that next spring :).
Do you leave the super on in winter & if so do u remove the queen excluder? I think we will use the flow frames to collect excess honey for us but try and leave them a standard super at all times - which I can use to move brood up to as you suggest.
Cheers,
Julia
1 Like
Hi Julie
Last winter I removed the flow super because the bees hadnāt taken to it. This winter I might try leaving it on as the girls are working the frames and see how it goes, I know one guy who left his on last winter in Perth, he even had a little honey to take off. Probably depends on your area and your bees. His a pretty feisty I believe. Mine are a bit more layed back, 
Cheers Tim
1 Like
I ran two 8 frame deeps as brood last year. Not so much by choice as by being a cheapskateā¦
The flow hive wasnāt going to arrive till the summer and so I decided to get a colony going beforehand so that it would be going well to fill the flow frames. So I started with an 4 frame nuc into an 8 frame deep. Of course the bees grew faster than I expected and the flow frames were later, so I put another 8 frame on top. Because I hate spending money, I didnāt buy a queen excluder because one was coming with the flow hive, so the queen expanded the brood through both boxes. I managed to harvest the outer frames though.
When the flow hive arrived I couldnāt replace the existing super as there was brood through it and I concluded that because the queen was happily using the two boxes and that reducing her to one box would probably constrain her laying, I put the flow on top.
So Iām planning on running 2 deep again this year. But I have a split this year so Iāll run that as a single brood box and compare.
3 Likes
Hate spending money? must have killed you to buy a Flow Hive.
2 Likes
Totally. My wife wont let me forget it!
5 Likes
Yes remove the excluder if leaving super on for winter as Ive been informed the bees will migrate upwards in the super for warmth and the queen will be left behind.
Looking like some good sustained weather at last!
Getting ready for harvest in December I hope.
With this can harvest 6 frames at once.
6x25mm ID tube.
32mm holes same spacing as flow super.
Just put on a bucket lid without holes for transport.
2 Likes
Looks good !
ā¦just remember to cover the holes not in use if you arenāt draining all frames at onceā¦!
if you leave the flow super on over winter you need the QE otherwise you risk cocoons in the flow frames.
Cheers
Rob.
Euc. citriodora is a smooth barked euc,
Can you take a photo? Post in the plant thread?