Thanks for the advice, everyone. I was not aware that people are opening the super to check the flow frames before extracting them. I watch Cedar’s weekly Q&A sessions where he’s often harvesting frames and so far I’ve not seen him open the super to check frames.
Each day sees the frames fill up more and if they are full in where I can’t see them, I’ll be harvesting in a week or so. Trouble is, the constant fire bans mean I can’t light up the smoker.
It’s a very bad day for smoke around my place today and I was in Penders buying honey containers and joked with the guy about it being so smokey that I could probably open the hive without the smoker. He said they had somebody in recently who’d tried that. ‘It didn’t go as well as hoped’, was his comment.
I just went into his YT channel to check how far back I’d watched his videos. I’ve seen everything for the last 6 months, and patchy from there back. This one is 12 months old, and funnily enough I’ve seen the one he posted right after this one.
For your first couple of harvests it’s advisable to pull out the frames to ensure that they are at least 80% capped. Once you’re more experienced you will start to be able to recognise when it’s time to harvest without physically removing the frames. Cedar has covered this on Facebook Live more than once. In our customer communications we put a very strong emphasis on the importance of inspections and this has also been covered during many of the Q & A sessions, along with pointers on what to look out for. Facebook Live is on tomorrow and at around 10 am each Wednesday morning AEDT if you’d like to join the discussion.
Are these only on Facebook Freebee? I can’t find a link on your website, and I don’t have Facebook.
It’s good to know there is good emphasis on this now, as I didn’t come across much when I was buying mine some years ago.
I also come across a lot of Flow hives for sale on gumtree by those those that buy them and abandon them as they don’t manage them and get overwhelmed. So the emphasis may not be coming through. Its also a risk of spreading diseases and pests.
Just my feedback and I wish you luck to succeed. Without your product, I wouldn’t be keeping bees!
I also come across a lot of Flow hives for sale on gumtree by those those that buy them and abandon them as they don’t manage them and get overwhelmed. So the emphasis may not be coming through. Its also a risk of spreading diseases and pests.
It’s such a shame to hear this. We do try to equip customers with an understanding about what beekeeping involves. Our website has a wealth of information about beekeeping and this forum has been set up to provide further support and access to different experiences. We encourage customers to join their local clubs, find themselves a mentor and learn all they can. The founders are second and third generation beekeepers and most of the staff here keep bees, so we have a vested interest in ensuring that people keep bees responsibly and will continue to work on this.
I agree with you Freebee. In part, this is due to your success. (I think you interpreted my deleted comment wrong).
You have a successful product, which got a lot of coverage. Your marketing is top notch and no other beekeeping hive or product comes even close. Mind you, not even your customer service, and this forum!
Beekeeping has become (partly due to Flow) a bit of a fashionable thing, rightly or wrongly - where many people just want to do the right thing for the bees and environment - but fail to do enough research before they get into the hobby. It is a lot more involved than one is led to believe from simply seeing a nice video.
This is not your fault, you can take a horse to water…
I see lots of people get into beekeeping with traditional hives, only to give it up not long after they started. The challenges can be a bit overwhelming. Hive beetles claim a few victims over here.
Beetles not an issue here yet Jeff. In the past year I had a look at two Flow Hives advertised cheaply on Gumtree. (I ignore the counterfeit rubbish). One was very weak and infested with what I assumed was wax moth. The other was never opened and it was a massive mess with cross comb and foundation-less frames. Both way out of my league to fix. There was another given away for free but from the photo it looked abandoned. It was gone quickly though.
So yes, I agree with @Freebee2 that this is a shame and I’m sure this breaks the heart of the company founders.
Anyway, back on topic. These are my hives. Do you think I can fit another two in that space, and still be able to maintain them? The terrain is quite rugged and not level, which doesn’t show much in the photo.
Hi Stefan, I can see room for another hive between those two and would be using the sunlit area on the right of the pic as well.
It is sad that some people think it fashionable to have bees so go for it without wondering if they have the spare time to care for the hive. A great example is the ‘mountain goat’ hive that I care for, when I took it on it had not had the roof off for about 4 years and needed a shovel the get it off. Two solid days work to get down and fix up the brood box and the super frames left the site in buckets. The hive was so angry I nearly gave up on it, @JeffH generously came to give me a hand and we divided the hive in two, it was really over crowded. Dividing the hive totally changed their temperament and it is a veil only job now. I’m happy to take a split off and have it add to my apiary.
Cheers
You could fit another 5 or 6 hives in there easily without breaking a sweat.
One would go in between you existing 2 hives.
Get rid of that log and put two hives in it place.
where all those rocks are bottom right of picture you could get another 3 hives in there.
And don’t give me any talk on rugged terrain. The bees just don’t care and your a fit young man.
Just depends on how many hives you really want.
I am happy with two. But I can understand the addition which afflicts others. .
Get rid of the log and look around for a rock to sit on You have a great area there for bees and after a season or two of confidence and experience I suspect the ‘bee keeping bug’ will bite you. Heck it is addictive,
Cheers
Do you always take a bucket of water with you when you inspect, especially if you’re using the smoker?
Do you take a small fire extinguisher with you?
Given it’s fire season I only ask the questions because small embers can easily be ejected from your smoker, even without you immediately noticing. You don’t want a fire on your hands…
I actually take fire safety very seriously. I have 27 square kilometres of native bush on the other side of the fence, and trust me, I don’t want to burn it.
First, I strictly obey total fire bans.
I take a hose down with me and damp the area around the hives.
I keep the hose with me at all times within reach.
I avoid using small fuel in the smoker and don’t get a large fire going. All I want is small plume is smoke.
I never leave the smoker on the ground, I hang it safely on the metal fence.
I installed a piece of stainless mesh in the smoker to stop embers blowing out.
I try to keep the area free from dry weeds.
I have a metal bucket where I extinguish the smoker safely away from flammable material.
I wish I had enough testosterone to inspect without a smoker like others, but I’m working on it.
But I can understand the addition which afflicts others. 
You have a great area there for bees and after a season or two of confidence and experience I suspect the ‘bee keeping bug’ will bite you. Heck it is addictive,
