30 : The Flow™ Hive: 20 Questions BEEKEEPING INVENTION
The Flow™ Hive: 20 Questions
Stuart Anderson T
he Flow™ Hive is undoubtedly the new beekeeping sensation. Developed and designed by Stuart and Cedar Anderson in Australia, it aims to take the hassle out of the honey harvest. As with all new inventions, there have been a lot of questions. Here are the answers to some of them. 1 What gave you the idea to develop the Flow Hive? ‘It was about ten years ago that my son Cedar had an inspiration. He’d spent the weekend out in the paddock smoking bees, opening hives, lugging frames around, getting stung, and sweating it out in the shed extracting and filtering the honey. He just thought that there had to a better way. He was right.’ 2 How long have you been working on it? ‘About ten years. We’d sit down and talk about ideas then Cedar would go off and build them. Then it was a long process of trialling the many methods we came up with. The idea that really led to the Flow Hive came up over three years ago and we’ve been working full time on it since then.’ 3 Have you patented your invention?
‘Yes, Flow Hive has been patented worldwide.’
www.bee-craft.com
no way affected by having the combs partially constructed from plastic.’ 8 Can parts be replaced if they break or would you need a complete new Flow frame?
‘The plastic is very durable, but yes the parts are replaceable. We’ll be making these available when we can.’ 9 Why do bees not
Stuart and Cedar Anderson with a full Flow frame
4 What do you feel about the overwhelming response to its launch on Indiegogo?
‘It’s been exciting and daunting. It’s all happened so fast and the support has been so effusive. We thought the idea would do well, but it’s gone far beyond our expectations. The community of people that has gathered around this invention has been truly inspiring. I like to think that this enormous response is about people caring about bees and about our environment.’ 5 When do you aim to ship the first hives and frames to customers?
‘The Early Delivery perks will be shipped in June, with the rest to follow in the order in which the supporters pledged. At this stage, we’re right on track to deliver in the timeframes we’ve indicated on Indiegogo,
with most set to go out in December 2015.’ 6 Are the Flow frames made from food-grade plastic?
‘Yes, the frames are made from food-grade, BPA-free (bisphenol A-free) plastic.’ 7 Does the plastic used in the Flow frames alter the dynamics of the comb which the bees use for communication?
‘Bees communicate in a number of marvellous ways. They dance, they use smell, they touch each other and vibrate and they use various hums and buzzes. The brood box remains the same as it always has been; wax comb forming cells for the eggs and larvae. The Flow frames are for the honey and are only partially plastic. We can only really go on what we have observed in our testing. As far as we can tell, the bees’ way of life is in
investigate the honey as it is being run off from the hive?
‘This depends on the nectar flow at the time. When they are busy foraging they don’t seem to worry about much else, but when there is not enough available nectar they can get grumpy and they will actively investigate any food source. They’re not at all disturbed by the harvesting process. They seem to have no idea that it’s even happening. Sometimes bees will spot the honey, but that potential problem is easily fixed by fashioning some kind of cover for your jar. We use a small takeaway container.’ 10 Does the honey need filtering after extraction? ‘No, not for amateurs. That’s one of the great advantages of Flow Hive. There’s no filtering required, the honey comes out remarkably clear. You turn the handle, the wax completing the cells cracks, the honey flows out into your jar. That’s it.’
May 2015 Vol 97 No 5
All photos from
www.honeyflow.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48