Hi George, the cover board I was referring to was the rear inspection cover panel, which from memory did make it easier to remove & replace frames, once it was removed.
cheers
Hi Jeff, thanks for that.
I call it the Rear flow access cover.
I thought it would be a simple choice of terminology.
Cheers and a Merry Christmas
Thanks George, Merry Christmas to you as well. I think of that board as the crown board. I tell people with Flow hives, when picking up a colony to not bring the roof, just the crown board.
Just received this via Email.
Another reason to register your hives.
Today just keeps getting betterā¦
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So I did an inspection and harvested 6 of 9 frames today. The 6 frames harvested were minimum 70pc capped on each side but most were 80+%. The other 3 frames werenāt harvested because they were less than 50pc capped even though they were full. Moisture content was fine.
When harvesting each frame was cracked in one-third increments with 50 mins to 1h15m between each increment being cracked.
Andā¦ It was a paltry harvest. It is either reflective of the capacity of the frames reducing over the years, excessive flooding, or both.
I suspect both.
Based on inside scales I harvest 7.7kg. Based on hive scales I lost 11.7kg.
I fear a flooded massacreā¦I checked under the hive and there was definitely a pool of honey. It didnāt look like 4kg but that means there was still alot insideā¦
So it seems frames that were made to be harvested in-situ are best harvested off the hive.
Hiya Snowy, that doesnāt sound great, when you say you inspected before harvesting what was the timeframe? And would I be correct in assuming the inspection involved removing the Fframes from the box? Iād be interested to know if @Cedar does this?
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Started the inspection at 730ish this morning and started to harvest just before 9ish. Harvesting finished at 4pm-ish. I harvested 3 frames at a time.
And yes, my inspections involve removing every frame for evaluation on both sides before harvest. I also clean up errant comb that gets built up between Supers and the traditional frames (in the hybrid).
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Wow! Have you lost more than harvested? But even if it was only the difference, a right-sized spinner looks like a very frugal option.
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I recently helped a friend harvest a frame and we got a lot less than anticipated. When we reinspected there was still honey in the cells that had crystallised and not drained for harvesting. In you case I wonder how much leaked and how much stayed in the frames?
Open cells leak honey, there is no way around this. It is why 100% capped is important. Or if not fully capped the bottom of the frames and close to the outlet are.
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It was only the upper sections that were uncapped. If the lower half was uncapped I didnāt harvest the frame.
If the honey was crystallised in the frame the difference would be less (i.e. only measurement inaccuracyā¦ But I wouldnāt expect a 4kg difference)
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So the question is, did you do another inspection to see if the hive is flooded?
Hi Mike, happy NY. A good indicator to tell if flooding occurred inside the hive would be if bearding at the entrance took place. If no noticeable bearding takes place, I would bet that the flooding would be minimal, & able to be easily cleaned up without any interference to the colonyās routine.
Since learning the difference between wet & dry caps, itās my belief that Flow frames with wet caps will flood before Flow frames with dry caps. An inspection before harvest would reveal wet, dry or a mixture of both.
Based on the bearding well into the night and the honey I observed under the hive I knew the hive had flooded. Iāve got hive scales so have left the bees to themselves and just monitored the weight and observed the hive and behaviour, leaving it to the bees to clean up uninterrupted
@AdamMaskew yes, crystallisation is a potential other cause of reduced reduced harvest per frame (and late in the season is something I watch for as itās often an issue in a frame or two during my last harvest of each season). However, at this point in the season, and given the frames were all uncapped with no remnant honey when put on weeks ago I doubt crystallisation was the issue this time.
@JeffH the frames were mostly dry capped but there was one side of one frame that was mostly wet capped
Hi Alan, it would be interesting to see whatās going on through the side viewing window, especially if a wet capped side could be placed there before harvest. Then to do it correctly, to avoid the frame losing heat, remove the cover slightly after you start the harvest.
Good suggestion! Iāll try to remember to setup like this next time.
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Hi all,
Long time lurker, first time poster. I just finised reading all 1595 post on this thread and felt compelled to sign up and join in!
First off what a lovely community we have here in WA and an amazing wealth of knowledge being shared around! Very proud to be apart of it.
I am a fairly new beek. Iāve been learning and researching for approx a year now and only just dived in the deep end last October. Sadly Iām still on the look out for a mentor, preferably a Perth Hills local. Everything Iāve learnt so far has been self taught. I look forward to doing some courses this year! Forever learning and loving it.
Unfortunately I am ashamed to admit I purchased a flow hive copy as my first hive only because I wasnāt prepared to pay the full amount for something I was still too unsure of. Regardless though itās a start and entry into the world of beekeeping and provided everything works out ok I know for sure I will upgrade to a real flowhive.
Abit of background:
Hive started: 05-Oct-21 (8 frames approx 70% drawn. Wintered colony, Italian queen, 2 new fd wf frames added)
Facing South East.
1 - 7ff Super
1 - QE
1 - 10f fd BB
Mesh top, solid bottom.
Here is a recount of my second ever inspection todayā¦
No total fire ban. 32 and abit windy. Wet down 3m around the hive, used a steel bucket and left the hose charged within reach, lit smoker away from combustibles.
Main goal today was to look for drones. I havenāt seen any drones fly out or in the hive in about a month.
Inspection revealed:
- Flow super is 70% gap prepped with no nectar
- Bb is approx 80% full
- 10% drones
- Eggs present, did not spot queen
- Colony is progressing slowly but surely
- 1 old play cup found and removed, no signs of preparations for swarming.
- No obvious signs (to my untrained eye) of pest and diseases, random afb rope test were all negative.
- 2 outer frames (1,10) 80% capped honey, all other frames had 10% capped honey and pollen arc.
- Frames (3,4,5) full of pollen
- Frames (2,6,7,8,9,) full of brood
Here is frame 8 for reference. Looks abit too patchy for my liking however all the cells were being utilised or freshly hatched.
This is frame 10 for reference. It was one of two wf I added when installing the colony.
Some other notes: I live within arms length from John Forrest National Park. Jarrah and Jacaranda currently in bloom. There is another colony somewhere near by as evident at the local watering hole, they look feral yet very conditioned.
Now for the stereotypical newby questions! 
My main concerns are, are they pollen bound and why are they stockpiling so much pollen? Is there a mid summer nectar dearth happening and maybe itās the reason why they cut down on drone numbers recently and why the super isnāt being filled?
Everything looks so dry, last few weeks have been super hot. Larvae look like they have very little food. Perhaps I donāt have enough nurse bees?
Bees still seem reluctant to use flow frames, Iām worried itās restricting them. Would there be any benefit if I added another box on top to help the colony expand more? If so should I go for a wsp or fd and should I make it a bb or a super? Could any Perth Hill locals please chime in @skeggley, @Jingles, @Numbatino, @SouthEastScarp, @Wandjina?
Edit - @Wandjina and @skeggley answered this question post 1246 - 1251 for anyone interested. Thanks!
My mantra has always been the bees know whatās bestā¦
But I just feel as if theyāre being hindered by my set up and lagging behind because they are still working out/adjusting to the area if that makes sense?
I think every area has a code or recipe for thriving but you just need to crack it and figure out what works best for them and you.
Apologies if I sound so confusing. Thereās just so many questions and ideas I have, though Iām most likely completely missing and or not asking the correct ones.
Any help would be greatly appreciated and apologies for the long winded post! If you made it this far thank you.
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Hey Detto, welcome to the forum.
Well done for reading the longest thread on the forum.
Numbatino and Wandjina were out your way but have left the forum now unfortunately ABB is North and Iām South of you.
I rarely do full inspections this time of year due to the fire bans, not that Iām worried Iāll start a fire more so that my neighbours donāt report smoke with the āAny sign of fireā phrase coming to mind. And fair enough too, people can get fire twitchy up here. I roll with passive inspections.
As you will have read, in my opinion, unless you want to feed, static hives relying on local flora benefit from larger reserves. This is not standard practice just my experience.
The brood looks fine and although there are flowers out our flow wonāt start until the Marri blooms and then, if itās a good year hold on youāre in for a ride. That youāve done research is great, youāll do well, weāve got it pretty lucky here in the SW.
Have you registered your hive with the Ag Dept yet? If not, just do it.
Some answers are site specific but not all so if you have general bee questions ask the Flow community, there are some special people both here and abroad who never fail to impress me with their knowledge, humility and articulation.
Oh and;
Get a metal QX and ditch the mesh top.
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Cheers Skeggley for the warm welcome. Yes, the locals up here are very fire twitchy, myself included and for good reason. I just hadnāt done an inspection since mid October so I jumped on the first opportunity I could. Back to visual inspections again for now.
Your experience is exactly what I wanted to hear. I will definitely add another box. I want to go WSP because I agree with you, a fd is overkill, however I like the idea of being able to rotate my brood frames out. Theyāre getting quite dark now.
To solve the above I think Iāll get the WSP and just invest in another beehive for added āconvenienceā. The more the merrier I guess! 
I canāt wait for said Marri flow. Fingers crossed we have a bumper crop this year.
Thanks for your kind words. Yes, I am a registered beekeeper, getting that certificate was a very proud moment. I really want to aspire to be a responsible beekeeper. Especially for our next generations to come 
Rodger that, just orded a ss qx. As for the mesh lid, Iāll sort that out in due time. I just want to experiment first and learn the why. Thereās alot of other things I want to try aswellā¦ like salted rats and mulberry cuttings
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Hi Detto, definitely ditch the mesh. What I did for a former client was to take the mesh & center bar out of the frame before siliconing the outer frame to under the roof. That way the roof will sit where it normally does. I used some of the mesh to cover those gaping holes. I installed a hive mat. This will need to be done before winter.
You have a slight issue with the solid floor which needs to be high at the back to prevent water pooling on the floor, then higher at the front when itās time to harvest, so that the honey flows out of the channel.
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Welcome @Detto
As you will be aware we all have our own thoughts on keeping our bees happy and productive.
You may be overthinking the process, the girls know what to do and will do it with gusto once the flow comes on. If you donāt give them options they will use your frames, they canāt help themselves.
I concur that SS QX is imperative.
I took my girls out to the farm as we were away for a while down South. The old man (89), is having so much fun with them that I couldnāt bring myself to take them off him and bring back to the hills where they produce honey almost all year round. He loves harvesting the flow frames and taking samples to the Bowls Club for everyone to sample.
In my original flow hive with a pitched roof, I used activity in the roof as an indicator of hive health.
I will presume that you read to rub/melt/brush beeswax onto the plastic frames to give the girls a head start at sealing up the cells. It takes a lot of effort for them to produce the wax needed to fill in the gaps. This in my opinion is what slows them down in starting to use the Flow Frames.
My advice is to sit back relax and let the girls teach you. They communicate quite well with people, you just have to take the time to learn what they are telling you.
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