Still no flow hive action - after a year

I really need a rain gauge too, but I think we got over an inch judging by the bucket I left out. Hopefully the frames start filling up soon. 74mm should do the trick though!

Well, you know 74mm is probably the same as an inch to most guys. :smiling_imp:

Hi Dawn, 75 mils is about 3 inches. We got half of that at the same time as the local radio announcer said we were in for some rain, but not much. I had drained my little rainwater tank. I was hoping for some rain before my next batch of bread during the coming week. I was dreading having to use tap water. Not that our tap water is bad, I just like the idea of using rain water.

Yep @JeffH, 25.4mm per inch. I grew up in the UK when decimalization was introduced. Very confusing, but now I am bilingualā€¦ :smile: I was just being very naughty, as usual. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: Ladies often say that most guys canā€™t park, because they think that 6 inches is the same as 30cm :heart_eyes:

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Very naughty indeed, I think. I have to think about that for a while. Youā€™re not saying that blokes exaggerate?

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Hi Marg
I waited 9 months till my bees started using the Flow Frames. Installed January, first harvest September. I think it was due to the low numbers. I didnā€™t use any coaxing, e.g. bit of wax on the frames.
best wishes

Hi, this is my first time on the forum but I have just a comment here. We got our colony early November '17 and the brood box filled fast but there was little action in the flow super despite all the regular coaxing tips. The wall between the cells have all been filled but no honey although bees were wandering around in there. We figured it was lack of nectar due to the high temps and lack of water this summer. To test this we put in an ideal super above the brood box but below the flow in early Febā€™18 and by early April all but 2 frames had heaps of honey and were 2/3 capped. The idea was also to then put the full ideal above the flow super to hopefully coax the bees into the flow but now it maybe too late in the season. We will see how long this unseasonable warmth lasts. Otherwise we maybe should remove the flow for winter and just leave the ideal honey stores for the bees?? what do the experts think?

Hi Annie,
It was a particularly brutal January for bees, all my hives around Sydney depleted in honey and only started bringing nectar as stores into the hive in early february. It seems your timing might have to been out for the placement of the ideal over your brood box, given a choice the bees will use foundation over the plastic. At this point in time if there is nothing in the Flow super then you should remove it to reduce the open space in the hive for in preparation for the cooler weather. Given we still have another 1-2 months before the night cold sets in, this should be enough time to allow the bees to build up the idea further to get them through. Can I ask how many brood boxes you have? This will dictate how much extra honey stores you need.

Hi Rodderick,
I only have one brood box. If the ideal is full, hopefully they will get through winter? There is some honey in the brood box also.

Thanks for your ideas//

They may draw some of the honey from the ideal super into the brood box as the weather cools. Then anything extra they bring in will go up into the ideal. As long as there is 4 ideal frames that are mostly full, you will be fine (this could also be 8 half full ideal frames)ā€¦

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A post was merged into an existing topic: Inverting my Flow Hive super order