bollar
Disgruntled Member
DHL delivered our frames today. It's going to be awhile before the colonies get strong enough to make honey for us.
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I can't say I've ever seen the queen leave the hive to be cool - did she hang out on the front with the rest of the bees?
This year, I had a hive where the queen kept wanting to go (no piping, the queen actually flew into the tree and hung around there). It took a queen excluder between the bottom board and the hive body to keep her inside for a month; it forced her to lay eggs and then she stayed put. But I can't recall a queen ever crawling outside for air...
This year, I had a hive where the queen kept wanting to go (no piping, the queen actually flew into the tree and hung around there). It took a queen excluder between the bottom board and the hive body to keep her inside for a month; it forced her to lay eggs and then she stayed put. But I can't recall a queen ever crawling outside for air...
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
I've never seen a queen do that either - but it was 113 yesterday, so somewhat unusual conditions. She walked around on the front of the hive, with a few attendants trailing behind her at all times. I was glad to finally see her go back in.
bollar
Disgruntled Member
bollar
Disgruntled Member
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
Pretty darn exciting. Both sets of Flow Frames arrived here this afternoon, so I'm ready. Really some cool engineering work on these.
GasDoc
Member
My frames arrived today as well. I'm considering setting the flow hive on top of a deep that houses a feral cutout I did in April. I was preparing to put another deep on top of it soon.
Our winter is pretty mild and we have a year-round flow in this area. So I'm wondering if I need a second brood chamber or if the bees will survive if I just put the flow hive on top of the full deep
Our winter is pretty mild and we have a year-round flow in this area. So I'm wondering if I need a second brood chamber or if the bees will survive if I just put the flow hive on top of the full deep
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
Sorry, didn't mean to ignore this post - yes, it is pretty neat! So many people are becoming aware of the plight of bees now. Stories like this are great.
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Winters are mild here, too ... but just no real good nectar flow, unfortunately. I've started planting flowering bushes that are late fall/early winter, with the hopes of turning it around. But that's a few years out, at best.
But I'm confused - if you have a year-round flow, you shouldn't be concerned about survival if they're making honey at all times. I'd think one deep brood box would be enough, but maybe consider how much honey you think they need in reserve and let that build up before filling a Flow Hive.
My experience is that the brood chamber will be sized relative to the colony's size. If you have year-round nectar available, you should expect the brood nest to be larger than a single box because the colony will not have to deal with wintering. If you don't use two deep hive bodies as your base, you can expect to find brood in your bottom super. They claim they have never found brood in a Flow super, but I don't know if I'd want to risk it, along with draining some brood juice into a jar of good honey.
I just checked some hives we placed for my uncle at his cabin... he and his wife have planted nearly 10 acres of pollinator flowers that are doing *great*, and these were packages we installed in the third week of May... they already have two deeps completely full and are expanding into supers now. The hives are completely shaded, but are the best ones of which we are caretakers (of 15-ish).
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
After a very wet June and great nectar availability, I can see signs the white clover is beginning to let up and we're going into the tougher phase of summer - we still have soybeans coming up, but then a bit of a dearth until the goldenrod comes to put on a show. Going to watch very closely to see how these colonies adapt to a change in availability, as all but two are new colonies either from feral swarms or packages this year.
GasDoc
Member
I went to our local beekeeping guild meeting for the first time last night. Brought a Flow Frame in case anyone wanted to see it.
The speaker was Serge LaBesque and he was talking about how he keeps bees using double deep frames for the brood nest now.
As I was walking into the meeting a guy said "nice car" to me. I said "thanks" and he asked "what's your VIN?"
Turns out he isn't an owner but he works at Tesla on OTA Firmware. We discussed the nature of the most recent update and he shared some stories about his recent experiences driving a 90D.
My flowhive has been installed for a few weeks now. There are currently about 200 bees in the frames checking out the new digs but they haven't done much other than depositing some propolis. The drought has really cut down on nectar flow.
The speaker was Serge LaBesque and he was talking about how he keeps bees using double deep frames for the brood nest now.
As I was walking into the meeting a guy said "nice car" to me. I said "thanks" and he asked "what's your VIN?"
Turns out he isn't an owner but he works at Tesla on OTA Firmware. We discussed the nature of the most recent update and he shared some stories about his recent experiences driving a 90D.
My flowhive has been installed for a few weeks now. There are currently about 200 bees in the frames checking out the new digs but they haven't done much other than depositing some propolis. The drought has really cut down on nectar flow.
hockeythug
Active Member
Nice. I was about to bump this thread anyways to see how the Flowhives were working for you guys. I know you really won't know until you have honey.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
I haven't even put them out on the hives - not much nectar going on. But next spring ...
.There are reports on the fb FlowHive Beekeeping group (with pictures!) of people already harvesting honey, some twice off one set of frames. I am excited for next year. I'm going to have to keep a close eye on my hives in the coming months to make sure they don't run out of honey. I don't want to feed, but I will...
I have followed this thread for quite a while but never posted. I do not keep bees. However, my father kept bees for all his life and my earliest memories are of the bees joyfully pollinating the orange trees near Ontario CA where we lived when I was born. I date myself because those groves were where Disneyland is now. We had bees everywhere we lived as i was growing up. There were no factory made gear, everything was made by my father and his not-quite-so-competent kid. Ever since I have visited beekeepers where ever I have lived and always felt nostalgic.
It is delightful to know that so many of my favorite posters here are also beekeepers.
Thanks for all the pleasure.
It is delightful to know that so many of my favorite posters here are also beekeepers.
Thanks for all the pleasure.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
Nostalgia, indeed.
I always think of my French immigrant grandmother, harvesting honey with just a light veil for protection, lightly singing as she went about her business. I'm sure she's pleased over my hives.I haven't even put them out on the hives - not much nectar going on. But next spring ...
There are reports on the fb FlowHive Beekeeping group (with pictures!) of people already harvesting honey, some twice off one set of frames. I am excited for next year. I'm going to have to keep a close eye on my hives in the coming months to make sure they don't run out of honey. I don't want to feed, but I will...
I'm having problems getting boxes made at the moment. BeeThinking returned my call but refused to sell me a box using Flow's tooling. The Flow people haven't responded to three separate e-mails I've sent them. My local guy simply hasn't had the time.
I suspect my boxes will be made over the winter and I'll put them on during the spring as well.
Meanwhile, I checked the hives today here at home. They're doing fairly well, although I found one hive that was in an odd state... No queen, no brood at all, but workers from other hives were coming into this hive and depositing honey in the frames, even capping it. No laying workers or evidence of significant drone comb, so it seems as if maybe the swarm I put in it didn't have a queen at all (otherwise, the nurse bees would have developed ovaries and started laying drones). Considering that I started the year with only 2 hives here, adding 3 packages and 4 swarms late in the honey flow, I think it's pretty incredible that I have 10 supers that are full of honey right now.
I spent a chunk of Saturday visiting with my local equipment manufacturer and it appears I'll have boxes next week for the flow frames, just in time for the Goldenrod. As I was thinking the other day, the Flow frames might be perfect for the worst allergy sufferers, because you'll be able to get honey with the right pollens at the right time.
Had to add yet another super yesterday, bringing me to 11 supers on 8 hives here at home. Not bad for having only 2 colonies overwinter. Target date for harvest is 2 1/2 weeks.
Had to add yet another super yesterday, bringing me to 11 supers on 8 hives here at home. Not bad for having only 2 colonies overwinter. Target date for harvest is 2 1/2 weeks.
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