I used to be quite active on the Flow Forums. I was an early supporter and very excited about getting my 2 Full Flow Hives. I was patient when many folks were upset about the slow delivery. I am very familiar with startups and how sometimes things happen that are not planned. I get all that, but my patience has ended.
I finally received my hives at the end of January. I put them together this weekend. I’m comfortable putting things together. I’m an engineer and have woodworking/machining experience, so this is not user error. The wood parts came from Lancaster, PA, the heart of the Amish country, four hours from where I live. The construction was beyond shoddy and unfinished. The millwork was hastily done, forcing me to trim/shim/fit most of the joints with a chisel. The cedar itself was low grade and heavily knotted (the vendor made a few extra bucks at this customer’s cost). As expected, the knotty wood split when I drove the screws in the panels forcing me to glue and clamp many times. As I gently nailed the frame parts together, many of those split…more wood glue and clamping. Of course, like many others I am still waiting for the flow parts. Wouldn’t it have been nice to expect a complete hive when it arrives? The whole end to end experience has left me cold.
I too was hit with miss matched joints and I have built furniture from scratch before. Their jigs must be well worn by now and things are not as perfect as the ones flowhive shows in the assemble video. i too am an engineer so I agree with your concerns the quality was compromised somewhere. Maybe with the quantity of wood needed they needed to go with lesser quality wood (many knots and a couple splits). I built 2 full hives this weekend. BUT I must leave this on a good note… I bought 2 deep boxes direct from Beethinking and one item was split at the top and within hours of my email they responded by saying they have sent a new piece. ALSO I bought the entrance from them, well it does not fit the flowhive entrance. They have issued a full refund for the 2 reducers. Their customer service in my opinion is first class and might be worth a email with your problems.
Please contact Flow support and through them we can make it right in terms of the wooden parts. If they don’t respond promptly, please call Bee Thinking support and ask for Tony and we’ll find a resolution. You certainly shouldn’t require a chisel to assemble. .
Best,
Matt
I had some issues too putting my hive together. A couple of the fingers of the box joints didn’t align properly and I had to force the joints together, but, it all worked out in the end. I did not have to resort to using my chisel (although I probably should have).
I was a bit surprised the instructions suggested I use a hammer and small nails to assemble the frames. That was screaming for occasional splitting of the wood. I used the nails for the first frame and sure enough, 1 of the nails split the wood. After that, I switched to using my nail gun, which was safer (almost zero risk of splitting) and quicker. I guess they had to give an option for people who don’t have many tools at their disposal.
I was glad they shipped pan head screws for the frame, they should last longer. But… as with any screw and a soft wood, you have to be very careful not to apply any more torque than absolutely necessary or you risk splitting the wood.
Overall, I’d give my hive a 4 star rating. I’d have given it 5 stars if the box joints fit properly and the instructions were better. It sounds like you, @greekbecky, received a worse than average hive kit and I hope they remedy your problems.
(In case someone from beethinking is reading this, these were the problems with the instructions (a) instructing people to nail the frames together, (b) outdated instructions (you all asked me to add screws in places where no pilot hole existed with screws that were non existent), © there was a part that asked me to ensure I left enough space between the inner cover and the roof that confused me, (d) you didn’t explain the purpose of some of the parts (i.e. hole in the inner top cover, purpose for the screen in the bottom board and the two positions you could place the plastic insert, reason for the backwards tilt of the hive))
Regarding the instructions, I believe Flow wrote those to accommodate those with no power tools whatsoever. Personally, I assemble all of my frames with a stapler and compressor. Again, Flow was responsible for the instructions, and I’ll make sure they see this so these thoughts can be incorporated into future iterations.
The hole is on the inner cover to accept a top feeder of some sort. The screen is there to allow for ventilation control, as well as mites to drop out. In addition, the two different slots are so you can adjust the location of the corex depending on whether you’re harvesting or not. If harvesting from the Flow frames, move the plastic to the top slot so any honey that might drip through can be licked up by the bees. When you’re not harvesting, you can move it back down. The hive is tilted backwards to ensure optimal flow of honey from the Flow frames.
Best,
Matt
Our flow hive came from Oregon and we felt the quality was outstanding…no wood splits as we assembled it and we were very impressed with the Oregon experience.
I’ve not heard of Beethinking. Is this their US vendor? As for contacting Flow, eh, I’ve already took the time to fix everything to make the boxs workable. There’s no excuse for such low quality. I mean when you get visibly warped and split low grade wood parts that don’t fit, it really reflects badly on their venture which I’m sure they don’t want. I wonder if Flow knows the crap the vendor is delivering.
I appreciate that Matt, but I did what I could do and its all assembled already. I do sincerely appreciate the offer though…
Oh yes, mine was very bad indeed. I’m glad your experience was better. I pulled out the nail gun for the frames too, worked like a charm.
We manufacture all the hives. We want to make it right, so please contact Flow, or if they are too slow to respond, contact us and we’ll do whatever is necessary to get you the hive you’re proud of.
I too put my hive together this weekend and had very similar experience as described by many on this thread…split wood, pieces not cut accurately, knots, etc. One of the rotating “levers” intended to keep a door closed was too big and I had to remove the piece and shave it down so that it’s functional. One of the pieces wasn’t cut properly and I had to also shave parts of the board to make it fit. There are also places where there are small gaps because pieces weren’t cut accurately.
All in all, I wasn’t as upset about the amount of time since I understand there are challenges with start ups but I’m not very happy with the quality control. I’m disappointed I’ve waited a year to receive something of this quality.
I still don’t have the “insides” and will receive my bees in a couple of weekends. I’ve ordered a nuc so the bees will move up quickly. I was told I should receive the additional pieces in 1 - 2 weeks. Fingers crossed.
Hi Greek Becky,
I had a very similar experience, also with the Lancaster, PA shop… box joints did not line up.
Had to re-work the box in my own workshop before proper assembly.
CLICK HERE to see what the problems were with my hive body… the frames themselves were excellent… it’s the woodwork and associated screws that let me down.
I wonder if the Amish were contracted, or if this is just another woodshop in the Lancaster area… it’s bad with a startup, not to lock down quality control, particularly regarding basic shaping of components. These these items should not be leaving the shop and getting shipped… I’m with you, I was an early supporter and still am very interested in the system.
I had similar problems to others, although not quite as bad.
One thing is certain, though. Once the message got through to the Flow Team, it was rapidly resolved. When the message was received, Replacement parts were dispatched from Pennsylvania, and received 2 days later.
The message below appeared in another thread.
I had similar problems. I ordered two Full Flow boxes
The access panels on the end of the box were a wee bit snug. I consider that a plus, though. I would rather have to sand a bit, then to have it too loose.
The pilot holes for the large closure (with the logo) were off 1/8", so it couldn’t be pivoted out of the way for the end panel to be removed.
Rabbet (rebate) was slightly too small to receive plexiglass
One of the small pivoting closures had been drilled twice. Once, in the proper location, the second between the proper hole, and the edge. I have asked for a replacement.
Overall, I am pleased. A free upgrade to cedar, and they delivered by December 2015. Pretty good performance for a company started from nothing, less than a year ago.
2/8/16 I received the replacement part in the mail. Thanks, Flow Team!
Hi, yes I remember all your support on the forum, so it’s a shame that when you are finally putting your hive together that you got all the dodgy parts.
Although you have fixed it all up yourself - if you send us pictures of the damaged pieces we will send you replacement parts - then you might get another brood/super box to add to this hive or another hive.
Just email us at info@honeyflow.com and we will organise the parts for you asap.
Anyone who has damaged, faulty, or missing parts - are getting replacement parts at no cost - this is not a problem for us.
All we need it pictures of the damaged parts, or if missing/wrong parts- the part name/s from the build manual so we can’t get the right parts to you - http://www.honeyflow.com/media/docs/Build_Complete_Hive_171115.pdf
Sorry you’ve had these issues, and thanks for your support, we do appreciate it
Sounds as though you were unlucky. The quality of mine was excellent and the video was more than enough instruction so I didn’t even need to look at the paper instructions.
It s disappointing to hear about the substandard quality, slow and steady wins the race… I was willing to wait and get a good quality product and as American companies have a name in my circles for quality I was expecting just that when I heard about the upgrade to the cedar hives.
My hive stayed in the box for a month before I began assembly and I wonder if that didn’t help as apart from a few knot holes in the roof all the parts went together flawlessly. I just can’t work out why some others are so mis-aligned, surely they are all cut and produced using the same process?
Could the production and assembly temperatures make a difference, if not why is it so?
Surely the hive manufacturer could stand up, accept responsibility, make good and not handball the problem onto Flow after all they have been working as a team of sorts haven’t they?
Once again I have no issues with my hive but feel for those who do. Mind, I don’t feel sorry for those who carry on like cut snakes…
I hope these issues are rectified as I feel it reflecting on our Australian quality standards.
Ok vent over. 
Manufacturer here. They are all cut and produced at the same facility, using the same process. So far we’ve shipped tens of thousands of Flow hives and supers into the world and less than 2% of those have had reports of quality issues. We’ve accepted responsibility for issues from the beginning and worked closely with Flow to resolve any customer complaints as quickly as possible.
Best,
Matt
Whelp, my hive arrive and it is put together with a couple coats of tung oil on it. It looks great!
There were knots in the wood, but luckily they were at locations where there were no joints. I understand their reasoning for using knotty wood, as they advertised using renewable resources to their fullest, and that means not using only premium wood. Besides, the character of the knots is a beauty to behold. So, for those unfortunate to have knots where screws must go, I’d pre-drill the holes. This should have been something ‘noted’ in the instructions for those not accustom to wood working. And if you do not have the tools; beg, borrow, or steal them. Well, maybe not steal.
Seeing Flow had these hives built to their specifications, they should also offer several entrance restriction devices. I.E. Mouse guards. And also a wooden entrance restriction device for cold weather. I read in the string that one gent had issues with a third party device, so I now know to make my own. Many other people may not have those skills, and the Flow Hive venture is getting many newbies into beekeeping…including me. Offering pieces parts would be nice.
The only issue I had with the hive was, the board stapled to the outside roof frame was stapled to far to one side, and would not allow the side roof board to seat into place properly. To me, this was a serious quality control item, because prying the board off would have been tough, so I just got the wood chisels out and chiseled a quarter inch off the square board. I should have used a coping saw, because the chisel mucked it up the end grain a bit, but it’ll survive.
And the people commenting that the Flow Super Frames did not arrive yet. I think establishing the brood frames should come first and that the the Flow Super Frames will arrive in time…I hope.
And lastly, why do we see not pricing for, individual brood boxes and frames, individual bottoms, and other pieces parts?
Keep Beein’
Totally agree with that - I have had a few boxes from Bee Thinking with knots in the line of a screw. You can severely damage the screw head, and your wrist, if you don’t use a drill or Dremel tool to make a pilot hole.
You can get matching parts directly from the manufacturer at www.beethinking.com for now. I have heard that Flow wants to deliver on all of the orders backlogged at the moment before they consider expanding the product variety on their own web site.
My hive should arrive next week. If I have issues with it, I will send photos to info@honeyflow.com - they have been very responsive to other peoples’ issues with misaligned stapled parts, missing pieces, etc.
Dawn