Flow Hive Secret - How-to prepare your Flow Hive frames for success and give your bees a head start. 

Hi, notme1345, I want to start by saying I am not a patent attorney, but I have applied for several patents and I am very familiar with how the process works. Yes, I agrees that Juan Bizcarro did conceive and patent “an” idea for an automatically draining beehive which is in a lot of ways is similar to that of the honey flow.com FlowHive. That said, there are a couple of criteria that need to be met in order to be given a patent by the US government. #1. The invention must be new, or an improvement of the current art. 2# The invention must be useful 3# The invention must be non-obvious Let’s address these and try to understand why the US Patent office issued a provisional and the a full patent for honey flow.com flow frames when Juan Bizcarro had a patent own file for a similar invention. Requirements #2 and #3 are easy, Both Juan, and the Flow Hive folks have envisioned, and created a product that is useful. Next, a self draining beehive frame is(was) non-obvious to the general public at the time Juan filed his patent and at the time honeyflow.com submitted their invention. Question: The important question that has to be answered is question #1. Is this invention an improvement of the current art? Answer: Yes The invention must be new OR “be an IMPROVEMENT to the current art” This is where the “magic” happens and the difference between flow hive frames and the patent issued to Juan in 1930. If you look at figures 4 and 5 in the patent application and read the actual description of the invention and it’s operation submitted by Juan Bizcarro you will see the mechanism for cell construction and release of the honey are two completely different and independent ideas. In Juan’s design, the cells are solid hex shaped “matrix” with a drain activated by dividing the back of the cells from the “matrix” of cells via a turn screw. In short, he pulls the frames apart from the center which removes the solid backing from both halves of the frame simultaneously. (This design would not work, as written in Juan’s patent as there is no room in the box to separate the matrix from the spine without removing the frame… just an observation). Here is a copy of he relevant text from the patent: From the patent: The three parts or members above referred to composing each cell are constructed with the greatest precision, so that by suitably connecting them together, the walls of the cells of the side partS may be extended and their bottoms fit exactly to the matrix or central wall so as to produce when assembled complete cells. The matrix or dividing wall of each cell (Fig lures 1 and 2) is mounted on a supporting member by means of a screw-threaded rod 2 which passes through the Supporting member , and on which is screwed a nut 3 which rests on the sup porting member so that the matrix or dividing wall in each case may be adjusted in the vertical direction. The central or matrix Wall 0 which carries the bottoms of the cells corresponding to the side portions 7 and 9 is mounted by means of linkage 4 (Figure 2) on a screw-threaded pin 5, on to the screw thread of which is screwed a nut 6. by means of which it is possible to determine exactly the correct position of the matrix wall 0 with respect to the side walls 7 and 8, so that the longitudinal hollow parts of the cells shall coincide 
exactly with the corresponding bottoms. All the matrix or central walls of the cells of a hive are mounted in a supporting member Such as , So that they can be caused to slide 
simultaneously as a whole when so desired by the bee keeper. The Flow Hive frames are completely different in that they are designed in multiple pieces, inserted into a main body, and activated by turning a key which divides each individual cell allowing the honey to cascade to the bottom of the frame where it is evacuated via a tube. The two designs and completely distinct from one another and the flow hive certainly qualifies as an improvement of current art. Mechanically the frames are designed differently, constructed differently, and drain differently. I guess in short, I would have to disagree with your conclusion and equate it to claiming Tesla violated a ford patent by designing an electric car. It's all in the detail. You can read the patent in full here: patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/31/e6/d5/85210c41b52e4b/US2223561.pdf Thank you for reaching out and sharing and I apologize in advance for the wall of text. Thanks for providing me the opportunity to add a little rigorous thought to my day. Take care.

I've had the same copy and paste response from a couple other flowhive sponsored affiliated channels.

@@notme1345 Not copy and paste and I am not sponsored by Flow Hive. I do my diligence before I make statements. I wouldn't want to spout off about something and look foolish.

@@kenalv what do I need to explain clearly the person above is a affiliate, there is even links to the website in the copy and paste reply which i've had from multiple bots word for word! My point don't claim to be the inventor of something you didn't invent SIMPLE.

​@@notme1345 No need to hate on them

Thanks

Ha! You should see it today. My shop is a disaster 90% of the time. Thanks though. :-)

Thank you so much. I drop a new video each Friday. Please stop in to have a look :-)

:-). Thanks for having a look at it. Take care.

Thanks. Currently watching your videos.

Always. Please ring the bell and come back. This channel should get interesting this spring when I start getting back into the hives. Actually I follow a Canadian bee keeper in your neck of the woods named Devan Rawn. Fun to watch.

So nice of you to visit each week. Bee Happy too!

You need a flowhive. Wait until you see how easy it is to get the honey. :-) Thanks again for the shout out.

I am glad it was helpful. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Take care.

Great. Thanks for watching. My channel will get better when the nectar flow starts and the honey is flowing.

The harvest video should be fun. I am almost out of honey for my tea.

Thanks for watching.

With all due respect, I'm confused? I always view work in a positive light and have done so my entire life. Moreover I do not have an uncle rob. Is it possible you commented on the wrong video or have I missed something?

Hi Farid Jad, I am happy you found the information useful. I really appreciate you stopping in to have a look and taking the time to comment. Take care.

Much appreciated. If you have any friends who may like beekeeping and urban farming please tell them about me. I appreciate your support.

Я рад, что вам понравилось видео, и надеюсь, что это поможет. Проточный улей - хорошая новинка, но стандартные ульи Лангстрота по-прежнему мои любимые. Спасибо, что заглянули, и я очень ценю, что вы нашли время, чтобы прокомментировать. Если вы не видели моих ульев с подогревом, возможно, вам стоит взглянуть. Они согреют ваших пчел холодными петербургскими зимами. :-)

@@BugFarmerBees Yes, I am interested in all the new items that appear in apiaries, since I am building a third generation apiary and would like the new items to take their place in a timely manner. If closer to the theme of the video, then I'm going to transform the streaming frames in such a way that mature honey is pumped out without human intervention and folded into the third compartment of the hive - into the pantry. This, of course, is only part of the entire system. For example, in terms of heating and cooling, it is meant to use an inter-wall space in which a stable summer and winter temperature will be maintained (for our area it is important to smooth out the temperature difference). I will definitely watch your video. Good luck with your work in the apiary!

I like the flow hives but because I have to enter the hive anyway to inspect I probably won't buy any more flow hives. They are neat and make it easy to get honey but good old fashioned Langstroth hives work too. I may be getting chickens next!

@@BugFarmerBees chickens are super easy check out John Suscovich and Joel Salatin my personal chicken Guru's

@@FreedomStacker Checking them out now. Thanks

감사합니다? 시청 해주셔서 감사합니다? :-)

Thanks Nikko. Having a nice hive is a nice but certainly a lot of work. Thanks for stopping in to have a look and thanks for taking the time to comment.

.

Send him my way and he can learn. Moreover, you can set up a few of these and surprise your dad with your superior knowledge. :-)

@@BugFarmerBees I'll tell him about you next time I talk to him.

I'm sure it is. I haven't used or even seen the knock-offs in person but I have seen them on Amazon and eBay. I use all OEM flow frames. :-)

100% agree!

Cảm ơn rất nhiều. Nếu tôi thích thức dậy và bước ra ngoài tổ ong của mình để nhìn thấy một hồ nước tuyệt đẹp. Cảm ơn bạn đã dừng lại và dành thời gian để bình luận.

Honestly I don't know. I did see a video this week where Mr. Ed Dips all of his frames into wax to help the bees get started but I don't know if setting some wax in, around, or by the hive would be used by the bees. I guess that would make a good experiment.

In the Name ... Bees won't take ready made Wax. They have Wax Glands. It takes them 9 lb of Honey (eating energy) to make 1 lb Wax ! 😱 So if you can pre Wax anything a bit, they get starting being busy Bees making Cells (polished) smooth for egg laying, make Wax to cap the Brood. Etc etc ... Hope this helps.🤗 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝

It is a standard 8 frame Langstroth box modified to accept the flow frames. Have a look at this video to see the modifications: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tPdLojvoeYs.html Take are.

@@BugFarmerBees Thanks mate 👍

I pre-waxed my first set of flow frames and the bees took to it and filled it twice over the season. The second set I put on the hive in June and the bees didn't do anything to them. I think pre-waxing is the key even though flow says you don't have to. Give it a shot. It cant hurt. I may try stacking both flow supers on my aggressive red hive this year and see if they fill them both.

Bug Farmer Well, my flow frames are cleaned and going to pre-wax them this week. I hope this works. I’ll definitely update.

@C B Yes. But also i condensed the hive to a single brood box and not two. You need to wax them plus run 1 brood box to more or less force them to use it.

C B If I could do it again, I’d just buy 3 or 4 hives for what the Flow cost.

C B Yeah, regular Langstroth hives are what I like, 8 frame hives. Easier to lift for me. I’m not so keen on running a single brood box in our cold winters so time will tell. I may toss another deep on just so they build out and have the stores for winter.

It sounds to me like the bees are storing their nectar in the three deeps below the excluder and not moving into the flow frames. If it were me I would remove one of the deeps and see if it causes the girls to store in the flow frames. That is what I would do. You may want to look at some of Frederick Dunn's older videos. In the past he put out a ton of information on the flow hives.

Hi Seida. You can Purchase the Flow Hives from www.honeyflow.com but they are quite expensive. If you or someone you know is good working with wood you can get the same hives for about 400.00 if you build them yourself. You can see how to build your own here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tPdLojvoeYs.html I hope this helps with your beekeeping adventure. Take care. :-)

Ok thanks for your cooperation. I will try the second one.

Actually I have thought about it. I was thinking a hot(almost boiling )water dip or one of those portable laundry steamers. It may not make them pretty again but it should render any old wax and kill any mold or mildew. Maybe I will work on this over the winter while my flow frames are in storage.

@@BugFarmerBees Let me know what works will ya? I wrote the the Flow team about this and they never got back with me.

They did get back with me and said very warm water-never boiling, and a soft scrub brush. They also have videos on their site on how to take them apart and scrub them which makes them like new.

I honestly don't think it would be a good idea to leave the flow frames on a hive over winter. Some people may but I wouldn't because come first sign of spring you would have your Queen laying in the flow hive(which is not good).

@@BugFarmerBees Okay, would you have to move them to a regular old style box?

@@BugFarmerBees excluder on how would the queen get up?

Actually I tried that last year and it was a GIANT FAIL. I think this year I am going to place the flow hives on the Army and Navy hives on the back bench. They are both strong hives and I think they will produce. This is going to be a great season for the bees. Thanks for stopping in to have a look and taking the time to comment.

Just a happy little flow frame :-)

I am sorry. I do not sell flow hives. You can buy they from www.honeyflow.com. Thanks for stopping in to have a look. Take care.

naem. Honeyflow.com

? I am confused. How much for what?

That sounds like a winner. That would be a great way to process the burr comb after each inspection. I could make little wax pucks. Thanks for the idea. much appreciated.

Sorry, I run all eight frame equipment but if you watch my 6 Flow Hive Hacks video I show you how to make one for cheap. You will need a 10 frame deep, a leg leveling kit from Amazon, four corner blocks and some glue. Here is the link: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tPdLojvoeYs.html I hope this helps. Have a great New Year.

@@BugFarmerBees No worries my friend. I don't own a shop but certainly could have one make for me. I'll think about it. So you run all 8 frame hive? Do you find that it all works out with less room? I guess as long as you stack it really does not matter. Happy new year to you as well. Your videos and you have brought me a lot of joy.

@@bradgoliphant Well it certainly helps out with my back. If I were running 10 frame equipment I would only have one deep as a brood chamber. However, with eight frames I find myself running a deep and a medium in the brood chamber just to make sure the queen has enough room to lay.

@@BugFarmerBees that makes perfect sense. As I plan on starting with two deeps with frames that are 18.5” deep. I’m good with 8 frame finally. My head was stuck on 10 but I’m good now.

I found 7 OEM Flow frames on ebay for around 200.00. It's a good place to look. That said I am in the Langstroth camp myself. The flowhive is neat and does what they say but a standardized Langstroth setup across the apiary makes thing go more smoothly. Don't get wrong., IO like the flow hive for what it is but it isn't suitable for an entire apiary in my opinion. Thanks for stopping in to have a look and taking the time to comment. It is much appreciated. Take care.

I guess being a Drone is the good life until fall when the female workers chew off your wings and kick you out of the hive.

Yikes! Comply or die? I sure hope not. Thanks for stopping in though and I hope to see you in future comments. Take care.

@@BugFarmerBees most obliged sir! waiting for my bees!

Ну вот. Это ссылка на honeyflow.com. Вы можете купить китайскую подделку на Amazon.com дешевле. Вот ссылка OEM: www.honeyflow.com/collections/flow-frames

The most important this is you will be raising bees. :-) I am pretty sure pre-waxing the frames will work with the Chinese frames too. Thanks for stopping in to have a look and I appreciate you taking the time to comment. Have a great day. Take care.

@@BugFarmerBees That's such a lovely comment. Thank you! Currently I've got too much going on - 3D printer modding, brewing mead (hence why I'd love to have my own honey) and we're about to reopen the restaurant where I work at. Stay healthy, stay safe. Subbed.

All valid points. I appreciate you stopping in to have a look. I hope to see you in future comments. Take care.