two of my genuine flow frames have dead bees in the bottom honey trough.
There are a couple in one and about a dozen in the other. How did they get in there? My frames are closed and I’m sure about that.
The cap was of course in place as was the back cover.
Hi @Mike_S,
I would check walls of the honey trough for damage. It was a report here from one user who found a piece of plastic broken/missing in one of the sections.
I agree with @ABB the first thing is to remove the two frames that have dead bees in the trough and have a look around the trough for a piece broken out. There has been a few with that issue and it seems will do the right thing about it.
If the hive has been assembled correctly bee shouldn’t be able to get to the cap unless the window cover is removed, so back to a fracture in the trough.
Cheers
Thanks @abb. Nothing looks broken in the plastic walls and if they were the bees would be able to get out not die there. I’m suspecting something wrong within the blades where the bees already capped. I have about 30% capped honey on these frames.
Peter I’m not sure you’re familiar with genuine Flow hives. Hive assembly is totally unrelated to this issue. That chamber should be sealed from what I can see and doesn’t matter how the hive is put together. Bees can only get in there through the rear hole which should be covered, or if there is something wrong within the frame. My Flow frames came fully assembled.
I emailed flow and see what they come up with.
I think you should re-read Peter48s post as I believe he may have been referring to problems during manufacturing assembly of the frames and not something you did.
Also read his profile as he has a lot of experience from what I’ve read and you shouldn’t disregard his advice.
Ok. I just read his profile, and yours. You just joined this forum an hour ago, like me, and you seem to know a lot about peter. Give me a break.
I have had four Flow Hives for 4 years. I stand by my advice that if the assembly is right then bees can’t get to the plastic cap if the wooden end cover is in place. Bees can’t get to the plastic cap and with the cap fitted they can’t get into the draining chamber that way, do you agree? I totally agree with you that the chamber is bee tight and bees shouldn’t be able to get into it. Even with new frames the gap in the cells is so small that a bee can’t get down thru there to the draining chamber.
The only time I have seen bees in a chamber was because of a call out to a beginner with a big flooding issue and when I removed the frame there was a piece of the plastic at the bottom of the chamber broken out. A few others on the forum had the same issue.
Don’t ‘shoot the messager’, I’m trying to help you from my experience. I look forward to hearing what you find at fault with the frame.
Welcome to the forum Steve, lots of reading and nice folks happy to pass on advice and tips here.
You are correct in understanding what I was explaining to Mike but it seems he misunderstood. The one flow frame that I have come across with a piece broken out of the draining chamber had the piece broken out before the frame was placed in the frame as the piece wasn’t in the hive any where. Missed in assembling the hive but easily missed.
Cheers
I only know as much about him as what I read on his profile, and I’m sorry if it sounded like I was having a go at you which wasn’t the intention, but I wouldn’t want you to disregard the advice of someone with decades of experience.
Thanks Peter. Not a Flow Hive owner myself and it’s never really interested me, I’m not against people using it if that’s what they want to do, I just want to make sure it’s done in a responsible way in regards to hive health, bio-security and licensing & registration as a beekeeper.
Already had AFB once several years ago and almost lost two establishing nucleus colonies due to SHB in plague proportions last Summer. Not keen to deal with either again but it will happen.
I remember seeing that post also. There was a gap between the bottom channel and the cells big enough for the bees to squeeze through. Can’t find it for the life of me… though I did stumble across this one… Bees inside the flow hive frame channel where honey should be
Also, it’s worth checking the tension is the wires. If they are not tight enough, the bottom channel may possibly splay open.
