Flow Hive leaking water

Honeyeater · June 17, 2020, 03:27:33 AM

Hi there buddy, I just saw comment.

Yes every one here seems to go with migratory lids. I think the reason is because that's what commercial beekeepers use, as they find them easier to stack beehives with flush lids on a truck (hence "migratory" I think).

My gabled Flow lid also blew off once on a windy night - the cedar is quite light, and loose fit too.
I think some people like migratory lids with hive mats to gauge hive population, and give them room to move up to before they swarm, and hot days. I do not have enough experience to see the value in that. I block my hole in the inner cover. I also have slatted racks under the brood box and am yet to be convinced of their usefulness.

Garigal · June 17, 2020, 04:07:18 AM

I'm not sure when migratory beekeeping started here, probably after WWI and expanding after WWII, and after we had decimated most of the other populations of native pollinators with the mass use of pesticides in farming.

When I started my first hive in 2013 my beekeeping shop still stocked crown boards & telescopic tops and now it's just MG or the newer insulated one I'm adapting to. They thought I was pretty old fashioned because I wanted telescopic lol.

I don't find flat telescopic lids harder to work with if anything I prefer them, and I'm really not convinced that bees need upper vents all the time, I mean our MG tops were designed so the hives didn't melt down when stacked against each other on a semi during transit, not for backyard use. The hive that never had vents was always my strongest, I've only had problems since using MG.

I like the gabled ones cos they keep the rain off but they provide a place for ants so I might go back to an oversized piece of cement sheet on top of the lid with a spacer like I used to use.

Here's a very old film about our beekeeping industry, I do not understand how they are lifting three story hives off a truck so easily even if they have no stores, superhuman strength there!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJx4SYw78As

And another old but interesting report:

https://www.agrifutures.com.au/wp-content/uploads/publications/07-059.pdf

And another (WA specific):

https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1259&context=bulletins

Honeyeater · June 17, 2020, 05:10:48 AM

Thanks for that, some great info there.

I do like my gable lid, but it didn't keep the rain out at all because the timber warped, until i fixed it really well. What I don't like is that I can't put a brick on it, and it is rather useless upside down when inspecting - can't put anything in it. But I do like the extra space for a small feeder, and insulation.

Oldbeavo · June 17, 2020, 06:54:49 AM

There is a line between hobby BK'ing and commercial.
Sometimes commercial has adaptions and simplification to allow you to handle a lot of hives.
Lid vents vary between BK's, also floor vents are also variable.
Transporting bees changes how you view your hive set up.

Garigal · June 17, 2020, 07:45:22 AM

I guess my point was that commercial style migratory equipment had become the norm even for sedentary hobby beekeepers because that was just what was easier for most suppliers to simplify stock etc.

It's only recently that these older style non-migratory lids have come back into fashion again thanks to the Flow hive design and also a resurgence in interest in Warre hives prior to that.

Garigal · June 21, 2020, 08:36:49 AM

Lol, just realised I posted a link to the wrong youtube clip, this ones actually about Australia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjsvuPc4sl4

Hillbilly · June 21, 2020, 09:54:11 PM

Quote from: Honeyeater on June 09, 2020, 02:53:24 AM
Hi. I have a Flow hive that whenever it rains I?m finding water pooling on the Corflute bottom. The roof was leaking water but I fixed it.
When the Corflute slider is in the top slot, any water that finds its way inside will have nowhere to go and adds to condensation.

Hi Honey eater. I find that the corflute slider cups down with heat or whatever. When it does that there will be a gap big enough for any water to run off, if the bottom board is sloping back. Sometimes I invert the slider, with the cupping bowing upwards, and that makes a better seal inside the bottom board, but it also traps water that comes in through the entrance.

I agree it is not a good design, maybe they fixed it on the newer versions (which I do not afford).

Another thing you can do to minimise water coming in through the entrance on Flow Hives is screwing in an eave on top of the entrance. Some flashing or angle aluminium will do. It will however create problems if you want to install a robbing screen in a pinch because it will be in the way.

Ben Framed · June 21, 2020, 11:37:11 PM

Quote from: Garigal on June 21, 2020, 08:36:49 AM
Lol, just realised I posted a link to the wrong youtube clip, this ones actually about Australia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjsvuPc4sl4

That was a good video. I have not watched your first one yet.

Garigal · June 22, 2020, 03:24:38 AM

The first one I posted must have been the flow on from the first clip, it's a trailer for a film about a US beekeeper.

Here's another Australian one from the 1920s, the Pender family were formerly one of our largest beekeeping equipment manufacturers as well as starting 'The Australasian Beekeeper' magazine, and our version of the 7 5/8" depth hive is known as the WSP as it was made common here by Mr Wyn Pender in the 1940's I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWi6svWEeD0

Honeyeater · June 22, 2020, 06:43:53 AM

Quote from: Garigal on June 21, 2020, 08:36:49 AM
this ones actually about Australia:

Those boxes seem very light when they come off the truck do they? And they swap the migratory lids with telescopic once on site.

Quote from: Hillbilly on June 21, 2020, 09:54:11 PM
Another thing you can do to minimise water coming in through the entrance on Flow Hives is screwing in an eave on top of the entrance. Some flashing or angle aluminium will do. It will however create problems if you want to install a robbing screen in a pinch because it will be in the way.

I actually have a 25mm overhang over the entrance already to keep rain out. Maybe needs to be more than that.

Garigal · June 22, 2020, 07:47:55 AM

I was thinking they should be heavier but I suppose they were extracting all the honey before moving on so they would be lighter but it's still alot to move in one go.

If you made that film today the younger bloke would have been standing around playing with his iPhone haha.

They were both returned servicemen, the older man (described as 'wild') served in WWI and lost his son in WWII, the younger man was in WWII and they worked together in the Bega area for years.

I think the covers they are using are the US style MG top that you flip over and add or remove a screened ventilation box, but they do seem to add a telescoping top to some hives as well.

I guess the design was simplified even further to the one we have now with permanent vents, but I'm moving away from the 'if the commercial guys do it, it must be best' mantra I get at most suppliers.

Btw did you notice the improvised rock handbrake on their truck?

Honeyeater · June 22, 2020, 09:41:02 AM

Quote from: Garigal on June 22, 2020, 07:47:55 AM
Btw did you notice the improvised rock handbrake on their truck?

I remember my dad used to keep a rock in the boot to use when parking on a hill. He had found this rock, which was roughly wedge shaped, and he eventually sold it with the car.

Garigal · June 22, 2020, 09:56:19 AM

Quote from: Honeyeater on June 22, 2020, 09:41:02 AM
Quote from: Garigal on June 22, 2020, 07:47:55 AM
Btw did you notice the improvised rock handbrake on their truck?

I remember my dad used to keep a rock in the boot to use when parking on a hill. He had found this rock, which was roughly wedge shaped, and he eventually sold it with the car.

Lol like an optional extra, for some reason that reminded me of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSVqLHghLpw