Hi There!! I am a complete newbee and I have caught a swarm which is now in a borrowed box (std 10 frames). Next Saturday I am planning to remove the bottom board by installing my flow hive 2 base…anyone who has done it before? Any tips or tricks?
At the same time we have planned to install the flow super as the bees had already drawn combs all over the 9 frames installed…Any best practice?? Thanks in advance!!
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Hiya Waldats and welcome! Looks like you caught a nice bustling colony, good job👍
Do you have an 8 frame brood box handy? I see a couple of options depending on that:
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If you do have a spare 8 frame, set it beside your 10 frame box and move about half the frames into it, starting with brood frames. Work slowly and carefully so you don’t lose your queen as you go.
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Now that your ten frame is lighter, carefully move it off of the stand and place your 8 frame on top of the Flow BB in its place.
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Finish filling the 8 frame with remaining brood frames and the best looking stored food frames. Shake bees off the last frame and set it aside.
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Place the queen excluder on and then the Flow super. Close it up and leave undisturbed for at least a week.
Your other, less disruptive option is:
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Put a queen excluder on the 10 frame, put the Flow super on - aligned with one side leaving a lengthwise gap on the other.
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Tack a piece of painted wood over the gap.
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When it’s time to harvest, get a helper and some shims to raise the front of the hive to the proper degree. This is what I do every year because I have several colonies but only one Flow super, and I can’t tell which one will be strong enough to handle it - so the bottom board usually ends up being a traditional non-angled one.
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Hi Eva thanks for your reply!,
The initial plan was to transfer all the frames from the borrowed box into the flow hive brood box…
Then 10days ago at the first inspection we found out a lot of cross combs (9/10 frames in…)…and accidentally we drop one of the combs, which we left inside the box…we simply inserted back the empty frame (plastic foundation), hoping the bees will fix it back…This told us to be wary…we are opting to keep the borrowed brood box and simply slide underneath the bottom base and the flow super on top…fortunately enough, we have got the flow hive stand with the adjustable feet!
Now I have to confess I don’t know what you mean by “Leaving a lengthwise gap” & “ tack a piece of painted wood”
Please note I have a flow hive 2 with 7 frames…
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Hello and welcome to the Flow forum!
@Eva has already given you some good advice. I agree with her - lifting one frame out at a time makes moving the brood box much easier, but if you are pretty strong, or have help, you can do it the way you describe too.
I recommend that you put 10 frames in that brood box. You may get a lot of cross comb if there is extra space between the frames, and that can be very hard to fix later. You don’t want cross comb when you are inspecting, and you will need to do that regularly throughout the nectar flow season.
As far as adding the super goes, I would only add it when all of those frames have fully drawn comb and are 80% full of brood, pollen or honey. If you don’t, the bees may have too much space to defend. Having said that, your photo suggests that you have plenty of bees, so it will be a judgment call for you to make. If you do put the Flow super on, I would suggest smearing a bit of burr comb onto the Flow frame faces to encourage the bees to accept the super more rapidly.
The way I deal with this is to trim the comb if needed, then hold it into the frame the right way and as straight as possible with rubber bands. Much safer than balancing it and hoping it will get fixed. 
Here is a photo of the concept:
I presume you mean 7 plastic Flow frames? That hive size is traditionally referred to as a 10 frame size, because that is how many wood frames you are supposed to put in the box. Semantics, I know, but it just helps to make sure that we are all talking about the same thing. 
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If you have the 7 frame Flow gear then you can disregard my advice re getting an 8 frame brood box or having a gap - there won’t be one as all your hive ware will be “10-frame Langstroth sized” 
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The only thing that I would add, apart from the fact that I would be using all wax foundation frames is to paint the roof white. One day on a 80degF day, I found a 20deg difference between painted & unpainted. Painted was 105deg, unpainted was 125deg.
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Deal with the cross comb, and BEFORE adding a super ensure all frames are built out and the hive is full of bees. Don’t add a super too early, it stresses the bees and sets them back.
Cheers
Rob.
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Thanks everyone for joining the conversation!!!I will keep you posted!!
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Hi there, swap completed…we opted to move the frame into the new flow hive brood box…to keep an eyes on cross comb and the missing frame (9/10)…Ah firgot to mention they have reattached the comb which dropped inside the box 2weeks ago…they are simply amazing!!
I attach some picts!!
