A BEE thread....for those interested in beekeeping.

[1muttsfan]

I was not especially impressed with their sales pitch either.

 

[tash]

A few things about this "On Tap Hive"....

Then they will cry when they find out the hard way that most new bee keepers (with no mentor)
have a high chance of their hive dyeing in the first year...
especially when they rob all the honey from their bees just before winter and kill all the larva that pour out with it.

.....

as for the "window":
bees HATE sunlight pouring into their hive...
Within a week they will blot that window out with propolis....
....

You are right about the disease. But as for the window it's like the window on a Warre, it's covered unless you open the shutter to peek. And as for larva I think you are meant to use an excluder. Though that doesn't explain how it works in top bar or warre hives.

 

[BeachBumBiddies]

A few things about this "On Tap Hive"....

The add alone tells you these guys have no problem morally deceiving folks and selling them a dream.
The add is rife with BS targeted only to get the new bee keeper wanna be's money...
Those who have kept bees for longer than a year can see clearly through this adds many fantasies...
The add is unethical.... so... in what other ways will these people be unethical too?

One thing is for sure, this gimmick will get many more clueless people into bees...
These people will start buying nuks and packages... driving up the price.
some of them will screw up by just pouring a package of bees directly into the "on Tap" hive and in essence use it not as the honey super it was meant to be, but as a deep hive home....

Then they will cry when they find out the hard way that most new bee keepers (with no mentor)
have a high chance of their hive dyeing in the first year...
especially when they rob all the honey from their bees just before winter and kill all the larva that pour out with it.

Those smart enough to buy a normal deep hive super (OR 2) with normal frames, (which acts as a proper hive home)
will realize they wont get any extra honey for at least 1.5 - 2 years
while their bees amass the population and draw out enough comb to support that extra honey...
They will loose their patience and abandon their bees or let them swarm...
and we who actually keep bees and have a clue how they function
will find tons of opportunities to collect these swarms for FREE...
which they sold as nuks and packages to these people in the first place.

Then there is what happens when this contraption catches a disease...????
I rather get stuck having to burn an ordinary $60-$80 medium super than one of these colossally expensive tap hives.

Finally these hives will end up being given away on Craig's list...
buy those poor suckers who bought them, learned a thing or two about their bees in the real world enough to understand what a mistake they had made by buying this thing in the first place...

as for the "window":
bees HATE sunlight pouring into their hive...
Within a week they will blot that window out with propolis....

next: one word.... "Robbing" -violence on tap-

and then there are the Varroah mites...
and the other critters which should have been killed by freezing and filtered out
swimming about in the honey so prettily taped out...

For me, the only possible question this thing might offer worth exploring is this:
If this thing is used correctly by real bee keepers, is it possible that it could produce a slightly larger honey flow then the standard mediums which frames are collected and spun once or twice a year...?
and is this extra flow worth the investment price???

I hate to be a neigh sayer.....
but NEIGH NEIGH NEIGH

Sorry..I'm no "Bee expert"...I just thought it was a cool idea & thought it would be cool to see your Bees "at work"........pessimism much? lol

 

[rebrascora]

I feel that I have to post my own views to counterbalance what has been said previously regarding the "Flow Hive" .

As a beekeeper of over 16 years with conventional framed hives(British Nationals) and top bar hives, I can see benefits to this system for framed hives, particularly for the hobby beekeeper. I can't see it being economically viable for commercial beeks. From the information I have seen it is unlikely to ever be available for natural comb in horizontal or vertical top bar hives due to the nature of the engineering/mechanism which I have to say I am in awe of..... such a really clever idea. So the target market I would imagine is framed hive hobby beeks and newbies

As with any tool, it has to be used appropriately and with knowledge. I'm sure information will be supplied with the hive/frames regarding it's correct use. I would hope that if people are going to spend large sums of money on this and even more on buying nucs/packages, then they will take the trouble to read that information, but of course you are right there will be some who don't and have disasters with it..... that is not the fault of the designer or seller. Some people are just plain ignorant and you will never change that.

The windows I believe are just for inspection to see if the honey comb is capped and come with covers like any observation hive. I have a hive with a window already and it is a huge advantage to be able to see what is going on without having to open the hive and a great educational tool and the bees undoubtedly cope better with the shutter being removed every once in a while for a few seconds than having the roof lifted off their home and all the heat and nest scent lost.

Robbing occurs in conventional harvesting, so I don't see what the difference is although I admit the promo video does make you cringe a little seeing the honey flowing off the end of the tube into a jar and not a bee or wasp in sight. Bees can smell honey from a mile away or more and will come looking for it. The risk could easily be prevented though by having the tube go through a lid with a hole in it, so that no access could be gained to the honey whilst it is being harvested and the aroma of it, to a large extent, contained within the jar.

As the other poster stated, it is designed to be used in a conventional hive with a queen excluder, so brood should not be in the frames that it harvests.

From what I have read only 3 or 4 of these frames are used per hive and they are spaced between normal frames, so you are never going to rob the hive of more than 50% of it's honey.

I cannot comment on your concerns regarding the price and availability of nucs and packages as I only use natural swarms which my bees produce in abundance and I would be very happy if everyone else did the same, (hobby beekeepers at the very least), as I think the bee package industry is unethical. I have never needed to buy bees in all the years I have been beekeeping and regularly give away 8-10 swarms a season.

I do not believe this design is any more or less likely to encourage people to neglect their bees than a conventional hive, but as someone who is steadily becoming more hands off with my bees, I am finding that my bees are better off for less intrusion..... I have several hives that are now 6 years untreated for varroa and looking good..... there is however a lot more to it than just leaving them alone to get on with it..... I do still do inspections maybe 2-3 times a year and I watch activity at the entrances almost every day, so that I can spot if there is a problem, but for me, the main elements of my success are having locally adapted bees which arrived as a swarm 17 years ago, allowing them to swarm and having good natural forage..... I digress though.

Back to the topic in hand, if they are compatible with British National hives, I am certainly tempted to buy 3 or 4 of these "Flow" frames for one of my hives and give it a go. The cost is the only stumbling block as my funds are very limited at the moment.

Anyway, as an experienced beekeeper I just wanted to balance the argument.

Regards

Barbara

 

[1muttsfan]

Interesting discussion. I am not personally interested in them as i have a top bar hive, but it looks like there are both pros and cons. I hope someone gets one and share their experience.

On a different note I got a new snowmobile helmet this week -

 

[Life is Good!]

Intro - didn't find this section of the forum before!

Three year beek who has 2 top bar hives and is looking into building a 'long lang' so I can super it for additional honey.

Built top bar hives and gotten 2 packages of carnies - both survived first winter (2012), but lost one hive in the horrendously cold/frigid winter of 2013/14. Second hive survived and thrived. Split hive and lost both to robbing Sept. 2014. (robbers were ferals and hornets along with yellow jackets). Fall was unusally warm and with nothing blooming, that's why the ferals robbed out. Now, in midst of bitterly frigid unusally cold season to boot - I can understand why the robbers took the risk. We're supposed to be in the midst of maple tree bloom - and yet it's -2 F at night. Not hospitable at all.

Have ordered 2 packages for May arrival. I miss our bees - but with this winter, it's been a blessing to not have to worry/wonder if they're ok. I can focus on our chickens and indoor projects instead!

Can't wait for May though! Perhaps by then the deep freeze will move back north?!

 

[1muttsfan]

Welcome

 

[Kendrain]

I am really enjoying this thread. I want to try bees but, am totally nervous. I am the type the will talk myself right out of something due to lack of confidence. So keep on talking maybe I will gain some.

 

[1muttsfan]

Bees are work, but not a lot, and can be very interesting, as well as good for your garden. I would suggest looking for a local beekeeper or group of them in your area to see if you like it enough to get your own.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I keep bees mostly for the reasons you mention, and for a little honey as well. Top Bar hives would probably be an ideal way for you to go.

Even if you do not keep the hives primarily for honey, you do still have to manage them to keep the bees from filling the hive and then swarming.

Ditto.

well how do wild bees live? nobody takes takes there honey. You do have to make sure they have enough food. If their is no honey you should start feeding.

They swarm and split themselves. Some swarms make it, some don't.

I have 2 topbar books now and I have been watching youtube videoes. I see now how simple they are to make. I still don't know that I can do it...but it should be much easier to find someone else to do it now that I understand more about them. I am still concerned about bears...but I am going to speak to someone within a mile of me who I see keeps bees and I will see what I can learn from them. Also thru fb I found a person in my county who has topbars and has said in the spring I can come see her setup. Sooooo...... I am just going to take it a step at a time. Also the actual bees are higher priced than I expected....but I can save the money if I decide this is for me. I watched some girls on youtibe gather honey without even wearing long sleeves...is that usual?

I wouldn't gather honey without a suit, but that's me. They don't like you messing with their honey. I gathered honey with my suit on, and had no issue, but they were certainly buzzing my suit.

Hey everyone,
In Southern California, and just put on our first Honey Super. Hope the good weather spreads out. My bees are happy and busy with full pollen baskets. Anyone else in SoCal doing the same yet?

NorCal here. No super yet, but I did swap boxes, as the bottom deep was empty and the top almost full. So the full one is now on the bottom and the empty one on the top.

have you guys put pollen substitute?

In winter I feed my hives pollen patties.

Interesting discussion. I am not personally interested in them as i have a top bar hive, but it looks like there are both pros and cons. I hope someone gets one and share their experience.

On a different note I got a new snowmobile helmet this week -

Very cool helmet!