So what goes below the Flow super? Or is it just open at the bottom?? 
And how would the bees get through the SBB to the honey “super” (nadir)? Very confused.
I agree,
According to the video, Robert’s frame holder is a form of blasphemy lol. I must say that the updated video is much better and explains the need for inspection, smoke, bee-suit, etc.
Good morning Jeff!
Wow, such debate I never anticipated. In my original post I was expressing my frustration that, in my own experience, the Flow Hive was not performing as advertised. Of course, we would all prefer that it would so that we don’t have to do all those activities you have listed.
I built my frame after seeing your Eumundi video for the simple purpose of holding the flow frames so that I could inspect them without losing honey from uncapped cells. If I had built the frame for the purpose of harvesting I’d have built it with longer legs. However, this discussion was side tracked by Eva’s questions.
I think everyone would agree that we want this system to work as originally advertised, but the evidence is that we must better understand the underlying constraints and modify our procedures accordingly. Hence the discussion about partial extractions, etc. Clearly, those videos that present easy extractions misrepresent the experience of many others.
If we must wait until nearly all cells in a frame are capped then we can only do so by removing the frames and inspecting them individually.
Frederick Dunn’s second video suggests subsequent harvests will provide experience more akin to the advertised claims. If that is so our current difficulties are temporary. Frederick implies (I think) that he has discussed this with the folks at Byron Bay.
I am hopeful that all of this will become simpler. I also hope that this discussion is helping all of us better understand what we need to do to harvest safely and efficiently. Some input from Byron Bay here might be helpful too.
Go well!
Robert
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Hi Robert, I watched Fred’s video the other night. I think he is opening the frames in 2 stages. The folk at Eumundi decided to lift the frames before they harvest, after harvesting a frame that looked ready & got very little honey out of it. It’s a bit of a shame that the flow frames don’t perform as advertised because I’m hearing that so many flow customers are facing nothing but criticism whenever they go to a beekeeping club & mention that they own a flow hive.
actually- with practice- and understanding of the process- the frames can be used largely as advertised. The only real extra things that need doing is inspecting the frames to see if they are capped- and also possibly extracting in increments. The frames themselves also need to be inspected every so often to check the tightness of the wires and the alignment of the cells. As far as having to remove frames to inspect the cappings: one assumes that any beekeeper will also be doing the same inspections for their brood box/es and also removing the flow super to do so. Inspecting the frames is not difficult. I think as you get to better understand your beehive- and the behavior of the frames and bees- these processes will become second nature.
“In short, I can see that in future I’ll wait longer before harvesting;
removing and inspecting the flow frames to maximise capping. This will
necessitate harvesting outside the hive on a table I have with the frame
I actually built to support frames outside the hive.”
this isn’t necessary- you can pull a few frames- inspect the cappings: look down into the space created and inspect the faces of the frames that remain in the hive. You can then replace the frames and harvest (or not). Alternatively- you could use an escape board to clear the bees from the super- then remove the super- leaving the frames in place- and harvest the entire thing beside the hive.
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Thanks, Jeff, it is a pity. After all, we only want this to be successful. I have sent a request to Flow Hive through the Contact Us page on their website asking for guidance.
Good morning everyone,
Unfortunately I have a computer malfunction so I am somewhat limited in my report here as a result of a response I’ve received to my request for more information about these issues from the Flow Team. Suffice to say it was very helpful, constructive and included a link to the following video… https://www.honeyflow.com/resources/harvesting-checklist/p/197
This video includes most of the suggestions we have seen above and I would like to thank you all for sharing your experiences with me.
Cheers
Robert
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