We've assembled our first Flow Hive!

We’ll be posting updates as things progress here.

This is the first hive the 2nd is on the way, the bee nucs should be ready in the coming few weeks.

My wife is standing next to the completed hive.

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You have the super on back to front, the end of the super you extract the honey from should be at the opposite end of the hive to the entrance. You have done a good job in assembling the hive.
Cheers

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D’oh!

Thanks Peter, we will ensure its on correctly when the nucs come.

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Hiya Phoenix, welcome! Good catch from Peter, but also please note that you won’t be putting the super on your new colony right away, and maybe not at all in the first season - the bees will need most or all of that time to build to full capacity before they can store extra honey in a super.

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We just got our nucs and transplanted them successfully into the flow hives.

They actually started going to our nearby garden for water they found on top of one of the plastic bins we use there.

Some bees were fanning near the entrance of one of the two hives.

Not so much on the other hive.

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Did you fill up the empty space with more frames? Congratulations on your new bees! :blush:

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Yep.

Thanks. They were obtained from a local apiary and I was told that have they are actually descended from Russian bees.

I was going to put them inside an enclosure(eg a shed) but after speaking with the owner of the apiary apparently these do fine in the winter on their own with just some extra food.

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Hi there Amir also make sure you do not leave any gaps between the frames otherwise you’ll have to break a lot of bridge comb to inspect.

The shoulders of the frames should be touching with no space between them. In the photo they look too far apart.

Already did that but thank you for the heads up, ive been following the courses on thebeekeeper.org

Wow they’ve really figured out how to monetise all aspects haven’t they…

Today there was an invading army on one of the hives…

Tiny ants! (Argentinian perhaps? I dunno)

Ah and there’s the culprit the grass had reached one of the leg stands and the ants were following one of the stalks up…

Time for some Diatomaceous earth …

Making sure to put around the base and the legs …

I do believe I’ll have to get some kind of platform to stop the grass from reaching the base in the future. Perhaps a large wooden board?

A paving stone would be better. They don’t rot when they get wet. :wink:

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Doesn’t anyone apart from Southern Beekeepers of Tasmania round the corners of their hive boxes?

It’s mentioned in both of my beekeeping books and I’ve seen some suppliers selling ready-to-go hives that are rounded off but I’ve never done it myself.

However I think I will do it at the same time as I cut all my boxes down to W.S.P size this weekend, I have to repaint the edges anyway. I really prefer how it looks and can see the benefits in terms of practicality and durability.

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I have never rounded the corners of my hives. Actually never saw a hive with rounded corners till I went to Tassie for a holiday and got to chatting with a bee keeper at his apiary. It would be interesting if it is a common practice elsewhere?
Cheers

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Added the paving stones today, we also decided to have them tied down due to some strong winds in our area. Far fewer ants after the stones were added.

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I love your paving stones! :heart_eyes:

From personal experience, I can tell you that ants can climb tie-downs… :hushed:

Maybe your ants won’t be as determined as ours have been, but we switched to flat roofing and a 35lb brick on top. That works, even in 75mph winds. Others have used curved terra-cotta roofing tiles if you want to keep the gabled roof. Four to six of something like this would fit over the peak of the roof and hold it down nicely:

:blush:

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Don’t know.
Laurie & Hedley always reminded us to round edges for better water cascading down. And to get hive tool in easier without crushing edges. Also sanding edges off frames to soften for bees wings.
Although time consuming for alot of frames… achievable if you only have a few.

Totally.
Awesome for the moisture to continue to cascade all the way down and not get caught on hive tool crushes in the wood.

Would also stop the edges splintering off as they tend to get banged into things lol.

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