Flow Hive Manuale utente

FLOW®

INSTRUCTION

MANUAL

The Terms and Conditions of Sale on the Flow website of purchase, apply to the

receipt and use of all Flow Products. You should read these carefully to understand

your obligations and the warranty that applies to your Flow product.

This manual details the installation and operation of your

Flow Hive and Flow Frames. Welcome to this innovative

method of honey-harvesting.

To discover more about Flow technology and the fascinating

world of bees, visit our website to access our educational

videos and resources or consult with the Flow community

on our Forum: forum.honeyﬂow.com

We always appreciate your feedback and stories on how

our products work for you and your bees. Just tag #ﬂowhive

or contact us at info@honeyﬂow.com

Before getting started, please familiarise yourself with the

information in this Flow sponsored Beekeeping Safety

pamphlet produced by Accredited First Aid:

www.honeyﬂow.com/beekeeping-safety

Happy Beekeeping!

honeyﬂow.com

honeyﬂow.com.au

eu.honeyﬂow.com

ru.honeyﬂow.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1GENERAL PRECAUTIONS 2

2SAFETY PRECAUTIONS 3

3COMPONENTS OF A FLOW® HIVE 4

4ADJUST FLOW FRAMES TO FIT INTO

THE FLOW SUPER 7

5FLOW HIVE CONFIGURATIONS 9

6HOW FLOW WORKS 10

7EXTRACTING HONEY FROM A FLOW FRAME 12

8CARING FOR YOUR FLOW FRAMES 15

9ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT REQUIRED 17

10 WHERE TO LOCATE YOUR FLOW HIVE 18

11 SOURCE SOME BEES 19

12 PROCESSING AND STORING YOUR HONEY 20

13 MONITORING YOUR HIVE HEALTH 20

14 ADDITIONAL SKILLS FOR

SUCCESSFUL BEEKEEPING 21

15 TROUBLESHOOTING 22

1GENERAL PRECAUTIONS

Beekeeping requires specialist skills, carries inherent dangers

and is often subject to regulation.

Honey bees are wild insects. Highly organised, endlessly fascinating, and to be

treated with care, respect and caution at all times.

Get Educated: If you are new to beekeeping there are a number of skills that

you need to acquire in order to safely and successfully keep bees. We strongly

recommend taking a beekeeping course before you put bees in your hive. We

also encourage you to keep learning: take advanced courses, join your local

beekeepers’ association, and meet and network with other beekeepers.

Follow the Rules: Regulations and guidelines for keeping bees vary greatly.

Check with your local council, local and state primary industries and agriculture

authorities, and link up with your nearest beekeepers’ association to ﬁnd

out what is required in your jurisdiction. Some jurisdictions ban or restrict

beekeeping, or require hives to be registered.

Understand the Risks: Bees can sting humans, pets and other animals. Make

sure you understand the risks and take precautions. See ‘Safety Precautions’

for further information.

! Information in this manual is a general guide only, is not exhaustive,

and may not be applicable to your circumstances. For speciﬁc

assistance, seek advice from your local authority, a professional

service or your nearest beekeepers’ association.

Take Responsibility: We are a worldwide community of beekeepers.

To succeed, each one of us must act responsibly to keep our bees, and

the humans and pets around them, safe, happy and healthy. If you have

neighbours, it’s especially important to consider and inform them.

Additional Resources: www.honeyﬂow.com has regularly updated educational

information and is a a great place to start looking.

• Search our extensive FAQs at www.honeyﬂow.com/faqs

• Join the conversation or ask a question of fellow Flow beekeepers on

forum.honeyﬂow.com

• Follow our blog www.honeyﬂow.com/blog

• Check out our instructional videos www.honeyﬂow.com/beginner-videos

2SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

All beekeepers get stung at some point. Before you begin beekeeping please

read the Accredited First Aid Beekeeping Safety pamphlet.

This pamphlet will help you understand the safety precautions and ﬁrst aid

responses in relation to:

• bee stings,

• the safe use of smokers, and

• safe lifting

We recommend you wear a protective beekeeping suit and use a smoker

whenever you are working with your bees.

! For information on dealing with bee stings and bee sting ﬁrst aid see

www.honeyﬂow.com/beekeeping-safety

FLOW HIVE

FLOW HIVE ROOF

INNER COVER

WITH PLUG

FLOW SUPER

OBSERVATION WINDOW COVER

OBSERVATION WINDOW

REAR WINDOW

REAR WINDOW COVER

FLOW KEY ACCESS SLOT

AND CAP

FLOW KEY ACCESS COVER

QUEEN EXCLUDER

BROOD BOX

BROOD FRAMES

SHELF BRAKET

OPTIONAL

BASE

TRAY

VENTED COVER

LEG KIT

OPTIONAL

FLOW FRAME

FLOW KEY ACCESS CAP

FLOW KEY

HONEY TUBE

HONEY TROUGH CAP

3COMPONENTS OF A FLOW® HIVE

*Please note, if you have a Flow Hive Classic, some components may vary.

List of part names

Brood box – the part of the beehive that holds the comb that bee eggs are laid

in. These eggs hatch into bee larvae, which then pupate and turn into bees.

Flow Super – a honey super that has been modiﬁed to accommodate Flow

Frames. This is the box on a bee hive that the bees store most of their honey in.

Usually this box is placed on top of the brood box.

Flow Frame – the self-contained honeycomb frame that hangs in the Flow

Super. This has the patented ‘split cell’ technology allowing a beekeeper to

harvest honey without opening the hive.

Flow Key – the long steel rod that is inserted in the Flow Key access slot(s) to

operate the Flow Frames.

Flow Key access slots – these are the rectangular slots at the top of each Flow

Frame that the Flow Key ﬁts in to operate the mechanism and harvest honey.

Honey trough – the enclosed gutter at the base of the Flow Frame that the

honey ﬂows along and out of the hive.

Honey tube – the tube extension that is inserted in the honey trough when

harvesting honey.

Honey leak-back gap – looking at the opening to the honey trough on the

back end of the Flow Frame you can see a gap between the inner yellow

plastic blade and the clear end of the frame. This leak-back gap allows residual

honey to ﬂow back into the hive after harvest, which the bees will clean up.

This means it is not necessary to harvest every last drop from your Flow Frame.

Front of hive – the side of the hive that has the bee entrance. This is a solid wall.

Rear of hive – the side on most hives that is opposite to the bee entrance. This

is usually where the Flow Frame’s clear end is accessible with the operation

slots and honey trough for harvesting honey.

4ADJUST FLOW FRAMES

TO FIT INTO THE FLOW SUPER

Before placing your Flow Super on the hive it is necessary to adjust

each Flow Frame individually. This will ensure correct operation of your

Flow Frames.

Check the tension on the wires

They should be tight. If the wires are loose see instructional video at

www.honeyﬂow.com/troubleshooting-frames

Reset your Flow Frame ready for your bees

We recommend testing the frame mechanism outside the hive prior to

installation. This will help you to get to know how your Flow Frames work.

! IMPORTANT: Ensure the Flow Frames are reset to the closed position prior

to installing in your hive, so the bees can complete the comb.

• Remove access cap

on each Flow Frame

• Insert the Flow Key

in the UPPER

operating slot

• Turn the key 90˚

• Remove the

key by twisting

it back to

horizontal

• Replace key

access cap.

Adjust each Flow Frame to ﬁt in the super

1. Identify the front and back of each Flow Frame.

2. Frames sit into the Flow Super as illustrated on right. Tighten or loosen the

adjustment screw so that the back (window) end of the Flow Frame pushes

ﬁrmly against the back wall of the hive, in this way all the frames line up to

form the clear rear window.

3. Slot each Flow Frame into the honey super ensuring that frames are packed

ﬁrmly together.

4. Check that any gap in the back window is less than 3 mm (1

/8”) so that bees

cannot escape at the back of the hive.

If you have correctly adjusted the

ﬁt of your Flow Frames the back

faces should now be lined up to

create a ﬂat ‘window’ into the

hive. The frames should ﬁt snugly

with little movement front-to-

back or side-to-side and there

should be no gaps greater than

3mm (1/8”).

Adjust

screw

for

snug

ﬁt

The back

of the

frame sits

on this

ledge

Frame

should

push ﬁrmly

against

inside of

box

FRONTBACK

Adjustment

screw

Ensure any gaps are

less than 3mm

*SIDE OF SUPER - CUTAWAY

Spacer -

for extra

adjustment

! WARNING: Before adding the Flow Super to your hive make sure

there are no gaps >3mm.

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