I’m entering my 3rd year of beekeeping. I have three flow hives and have not been successful in getting the bees to use the Flow Hive Super. All my hives have wintered well and we are having some unseasonably warm weather. The bees are starting to get pollen from the early blooms and I want to be able to harvest honey this year. I’ve seen many people suggest pre-waxing the flow frames before putting on the super. Here is my question:
Do I need to use burr comb wax from my hives, or can I get commercial/local beeswax from my area to use? I know its a big no-no to feed bees commercial honey, but I wanted to seek advice on the waxing. Thanks in advance for all of your suggestions.
I live in Gastonia, North Carolina - USA for reference.
Any beeswax is better than none. Having said that, if you can use burr comb, it has the hive’s own pheromones in it, which makes the plastic smell like home. You don’t need much. During an inspection, I just scrape some off with a hive tool, then smear about half a teaspoon at a time directly onto the cells of the Flow frames. You don’t need to melt it or do anything fancy, just gently spread it on like peanut butter.
I’ll second what Dawn says. Using their own burr comb is the best and easiest solution. However, I’d like to add that the super should not go on until the brood box is full to overflowing with bees.
While there’s any space in the brood box they have no need to put anything ‘upstairs’.
I bought a block of wax from Mannlake bees and took a torch to it for a few seconds until it was soft then rubbed it on the frames. It coats the edges of the frame. It’s worked for me as I too when I first got the flow hive super was wondering wether or not the bees would ever store honey in it. However, at the time as a new bee keeper I came to realize that if the hive is strong enough they have to use what’s available for surplus honey. Sometimes it’s not the honey super but the size of the hive. However Dawn is correct they will come explore and store in the super if it smells good.
Don’t give up, my first 2 years of bee keeping yeilded zero honey. Then BOOM! I had more honey than I knew what to do with which presented the next set of challanges like bottles and storage.
I am in the same boat, however I have been utilising a secondary Brood Box so this has indeed translated to my Bees not requiring the space that the flow super provides.
Drawing comb and preparing frames for use takes resources. The bees by consensus know what they are dealing with in regards to resource flow. End result - untouched flow frames.
This coming season i will be utilising a single brood and flow super orientation. Just cant force the hive consensus to do anything unfortunately.