Perth (WA, AU) Flowhives and honey flow

@Kirsten_Redlich created a thread about a wild/native pollinator count coming up. It is worth taking a look: Wild Pollinator Count Australia

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Hey fellow West Australians.

Iā€™m at a point where Iā€™ve given friends and neighbours honey and have more than I could use.

Where can I buy some glass jars (delivered ) to allow me to start selling the product.
I have 3 hives and the gumtrees are full on as is most other plants

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Cool, so the FF are working well for you @onrbikes ?
Looking forward to having a lack of bottling jars problem!

We went out for a walk in the bush yesterday up here in the Hills and was wondering where all the flowers and blossoms were. Not much going on here atm.

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We used to get our jars from Silverlock or Plasdene in canningvale

Up in Our hills we have no flowers on the gums - I think we are about a month delayed compared to the flatlanders so fingers crossed ours will start soon!

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Woolworths have Re usable plastic tubs which are quite thick for around $2 for 5 .

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I only have one of the Flowhives on and its good.
Very active, and am not sure if I should add another super or a brood box.
M only a beginner

Yeh our Jarrah trees are full on here.
I sit on 30 acres with 120acres next door.

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Hi Colin As we are in the same area I know the ant problem can be huge. I had thought about building a steel frame to hold my hives like yours but standing/anchoring the steel in a flat shallow tray of water. I have also been saving corks to cut and float on the water for the bees. I am also planning to use straw bales as weather protections as they are easy to move and good insulators.
Areas for placement are not a problem as we have quite a lot of land.
Now if all you experienced people can see big problems in what I am planning please speak up as I am brand new and I do not have my hives yet.

Dunc, did you find out the name of this tree please? OK saw it in the thread. Thanks Busso.

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Iā€™ve got my hive supported by a few bricks that are in a water tray. Iā€™ve basically got 6 stacks of bricks (3 high) with gaps between the stacks. Cheaper and faster :slight_smile:

Water tray is an inch deep so it needs topping up in hot weather every few days but otherwise it works well. Oh, the only other issue is decomposing bee bodies at timesā€¦but you can just scoop them out.

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Thanks Alan and thank you for directing me to this thread. I will be going over and over it. So much to learn and so little timeā€¦

It was E. eximia Yellow bloodwood.

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Hi Ricken,
Yes all good ideas especially the hay bales because I know they dont like strong winds .For ants some have cement blocks sitting in a large tray of water and that works also.For water I use an old bird bath with pebbles in it on a permanent drip.As you know we get high summer temperatures so afternoon shade would be a must and maybe some morning sun to get them mobile.
Cheers, Colin.

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Still not much going on here in the hills, howā€™s it going down in the flatlands?

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Havent checked this weekend but last weekend things were going okā€¦just a little slow. Iā€™ve managed about 15kg of honey so far. Iā€™m guessing/hoping next harvest in early Feb

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Things are going pretty well in my main hive. They filled two flow frames in about a week. Itā€™s mainly Jacaranda.

My second hive is going ok but Iā€™ve been having problems managing the comb (didnā€™t have foundation when I put the super on). The only honey from this one that Iā€™ve harvested has been from the crazy comb I have cut out.

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Any photos? I am sure lots of people could learn from you. :wink:

Sorry no photos, just a despondent beekeeper. A few learning pointsā€¦

  • Donā€™t start an entire super without foundationā€¦ I put it on because they were out of space but didnā€™t have any foundation at the time. I took too long to get around to buying some foundation and they had filled the box all over the place.

  • When you try to cut out the crazy comb, donā€™t do it in place, lots of honey leaks into the brood boxā€¦ move it off onto a separate board.

  • I think next time I have this happen, I will totally cut out the comb and start from scratch. I cut out the misaligned comb but left comb that was roughly in the right place and alignment. I put foundation in the gaps to guide them. When they rebuilt the comb wasnā€™t straight enough and it wasnā€™t possible to pull the frames out without causing significant damage.

  • I would consider doing a trap out to get all the bees out of the super before trying to deal with the combā€¦ a lot of bees died in the process of cutting the comb.

  • Donā€™t do it in shorts and t-shirt. The bees donā€™t really like you tearing apart their hard work.

Feeling pretty bad about it. :frowning:

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Hi Duncan

Sorry to hear about that episode.

Thanks for the above pointers. I guess minor failures will be the pillars of our great success!!

Cheers mate

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Sorry to hear @Dunc. For your next burr/crazy comb removal you could use an escape/clearer board and a false top - similar approach to how Iā€™m harvesting the flow frames at present.

Did you keep the wax?

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