Pre-Release | County Fair Awards (Honey)

@bdm, that is a fabulous picture!! Wow, just WOW!

I started beekeeping because of the FlowHive. I backed it too. I am going to check on a colony using the FlowHive later this week. It will be the first time I have opportunity to harvest honey from it.

I am so glad to hear that the FlowHive has been working for you. I am excited to see how it works on my own hive. If I have difficulty, I will be sure to send you a PM for some advice. If you’re interested, I’ll let you know how it works out.

A few months back, Stuart Anderson was in the US and spoke at our monthly beekeeping society meeting. What a nice guy.

3 Likes

Oh beehive yourself!
The last thing you need is to hear us drone on honey!
:bee:

Ding, ding, ding, ding!!! :tada: You win with this one. Ha!!

4 Likes

I think you will be amazed.

The only issue i have met this far is when i harvested on a moderately hot day (32C) and cracked open an entire row of cells… i ended up with the honey being too liquid in the heat and it dripping through the hive (luckily only a few bees were drowned and the queen was not one of them).
It has been a common problem in hotter areas.
Since then i have been careful to open no more than 25% or 33% of the cells in a row at a time.
That is about the only caution i would give you.

Do not hesitate. It is an incredibly intuitive system though and you should be fine!

3 Likes

These are really great! Since you are basically a trophy shop now, technically you’re the grand prize winner of whatever the heck you want right? :grin:

Man I really want to start a lavender and bee thread now. I’m growing some lavender (seeds came from Alibaba.com so I couldn’t tell you what it is) right now and would love to bee keep as well.

2 Likes

Is a bee on a Yamazakura (Japanese Mountain Cherry Tree) acceptable for your bee thread @Brandon_R?

6 Likes

More than even chance it’s not lavender either :slightly_smiling_face: Lavender doesn’t propagate true from seeds very well. You really want to get established plants or cuttings. Fortunately it’s so easy to take cuttings that it’s no big deal seeds don’t work.

1 Like


You may be right. It definitely smells like lavender, but that’s all I have to go on. It really needs to go outside, but it’s been super wet out lately.

Gorgeous shot! Look at those pollen pockets on her back legs.

2 Likes

looks like lavender, smells like lavender, probably lavender.

it’s not really that hard to propagate from seeds, it just takes for-friggin-ever and can be a little finicky about temperature. yours look like they’re growing well, though the brown tips mean it’s stressed about something.

if you or others haven’t tried, i recommend checking out different lavender varieties; the smell can vary by a lot more than i was expecting (we found several wonderful and one disgusting varieties at a local garden place last weekend).

3 Likes

Looks like a bee to me!

2 Likes

They’re stressed about still being in styrofoam cups. With gnat looking insects always bothering them. Can’t seem to get rid of them

1 Like

Pinging @Tony, the resident Glowforge beekeeper… :wink:

4 Likes

that’ll do 'er.

probably fungus gnats. you might be keeping the soil too wet.

if you’re unwilling to put them outside just yet consider getting some of those pressed coir cups as an intermediate step. you can bury the whole thing when it’s ready to go outside.

1 Like

I was a flowhive backer too! Last year they didn’t like them. I think I might have added them too late. Trying again this year. I’m in Vermont. I have yet to get my girls over winter. A heartbreaking hobby, but an excellent thing to do nonetheless.

3 Likes

Some of them have peat moss in bottom. It’s probably my issue.

2 Likes

maybe. but they’re responding to the moisture on the surface. do your cups have drainage holes? start letting it dry just a little more between watering and your gnats should go away.

1 Like

For some reason, in the southern California region, the bees don’t take the FlowHive right away. A simple fix is to brush a thin layer of beeswax on the cells of the frames to get them started. It’s worked in these parts. Good luck!!

3 Likes

They should be in 4" pots at that size and really should be going in the ground otherwise plan on transplanting again into gallon pots.

Keep them dry. Lavender is prone to root rot in wet soils. Also get the pH to 6-7. Don’t fertilize - lavender dies from overly caring gardeners :slightly_smiling_face:

My comment about seeds is that seed propagation tends not to run true. So if it’s labelled Grosso for instance it might just as likely show up as Hidcote or some other herb altogether, especially with Chinese sources :grinning:

1 Like

I only use the FlowHives for my ‘harvest frames’:

  • I have 3 Flowframes in the centre (replacing 4 normal frames) - these are my main source of honey and being in the centre are the first place the bees store.
  • Then i have a Foundationless frame next to them, this frame is never harvested and is kept as a back-up food source, i replace it every 2 years for hygiene reasons
  • Lastly i have Honeycomb Frames next to them (on the outer) as my wife loves her honeycomb in the morning and these 2 frames keep that habit supplied.

My Brood box is all Foundationless frames.

I found that, initially, the bees were reluctant to use the Flowframes but once they ran out of other options then they never looked back. Where i live is right next to an Eucalypt Forest and when Eucalypts have a nectar flow on the bees have not got time to think! So that sorted that…

As @rebecca said though, a quick wax bath can make a difference but they will take to it in the end.

3 Likes

Congrats! What a sweet honorable mention :slight_smile:

I love the queen photo as well.

3 Likes