Pre-Release | County Fair Awards (Honey)

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!!

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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:

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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.

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Congrats! What a sweet honorable mention :slight_smile:

I love the queen photo as well.

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