“On Top” Honey Flows Out Bottom Of Hive
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The Flow™ Hive is a new way to harvest honey. When its clear frames fill with honey, you open a valve to drain it out the bottom into jars. Besides saving about 90 percent on labor, the bees are happy. No need for smoke or opening the hive and stressing them out to extract honey.
It looks too good to be true, but it really does work, says John Gates, a former British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture employee and a beekeeper for 40 years who breeds and sells bees.
Gates admits he was skeptical when he was contacted by Australian inventors Stuart and Cedar Anderson to be one of many bee experts to test the frames.
Seven of the clear, durable, BPA-free, food-grade plastic frames fit in standard N.A. bee boxes, which hold 10 wooden frames.
“I put them on top of two brood chambers, and the bees took to them right away. They produced 40 lbs. of honey in about two weeks,” Gates says. Each frame drained in about 20 min.
He explains the Flow Hive didn’t arrive until late in the season around late July. Typically, that time of year is dry and less honey is produced. But last year was a good year, and he was impressed with how well it worked and the honey itself.
“I was impressed with the taste of the honey. It was like comb honey,” he says. “It was crystal clear in the jars.”
Gates speculates that the honey is clear because no air bubbles are added from spinning - a standard method of harvesting honey.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” he says. “For small time beekeepers it should be a good beekeeping tool.”
Flow Hive will make harvesting honey easier, he emphasizes, but there are still many other skills and tasks needed for caring for bees – feeding, monitoring for disease, properly wintering them, etc.
The father and son inventors have added information about beekeeping to their Flow Hive website to educate potential customers so they are aware that beekeeping is more than just setting up a hive and turning the tap.
Currently, the Andersons are ramping up production to respond to the flood of pre-orders they have received since putting Flow Hive on IndieGoGo for crowd funding. Their goal was $70,000, but in early April, they had more than $8.5 million in pledges and orders with estimated delivery dates of December 2015. Cost for a complete hive (six frames) is $600 (plus $88 shipping to N.A.) Other less expensive options from $280 to $460 are also available for people who want to purchase fewer frames and modify Langstroth bee boxes as Gates did.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Flow Hive, Stuart and Cedar Anderson, Northern Rivers, Australia (www.honeyflow.com).
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“On Top” Honey Flows Out Bottom Of Hive FARM HOME Miscellaneous The Flow™ Hive is a new way to harvest honey When its clear frames fill with honey you open a valve to drain it out the bottom into jars Besides saving about 90 percent on labor the bees are happy No need for smoke or opening the hive and stressing them out to extract honey
It looks too good to be true but it really does work says John Gates a former British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture employee and a beekeeper for 40 years who breeds and sells bees
Gates admits he was skeptical when he was contacted by Australian inventors Stuart and Cedar Anderson to be one of many bee experts to test the frames
Seven of the clear durable BPA-free food-grade plastic frames fit in standard N A bee boxes which hold 10 wooden frames
“I put them on top of two brood chambers and the bees took to them right away They produced 40 lbs of honey in about two weeks ” Gates says Each frame drained in about 20 min
He explains the Flow Hive didn’t arrive until late in the season around late July Typically that time of year is dry and less honey is produced But last year was a good year and he was impressed with how well it worked and the honey itself
“I was impressed with the taste of the honey It was like comb honey ” he says “It was crystal clear in the jars ”
Gates speculates that the honey is clear because no air bubbles are added from spinning - a standard method of harvesting honey
“I’ve never seen anything like this before ” he says “For small time beekeepers it should be a good beekeeping tool ”
Flow Hive will make harvesting honey easier he emphasizes but there are still many other skills and tasks needed for caring for bees – feeding monitoring for disease properly wintering them etc
The father and son inventors have added information about beekeeping to their Flow Hive website to educate potential customers so they are aware that beekeeping is more than just setting up a hive and turning the tap
Currently the Andersons are ramping up production to respond to the flood of pre-orders they have received since putting Flow Hive on IndieGoGo for crowd funding Their goal was $70 000 but in early April they had more than $8 5 million in pledges and orders with estimated delivery dates of December 2015 Cost for a complete hive six frames is $600 plus $88 shipping to N A Other less expensive options from $280 to $460 are also available for people who want to purchase fewer frames and modify Langstroth bee boxes as Gates did
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Flow Hive Stuart and Cedar Anderson Northern Rivers Australia www honeyflow com
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