by Flow Hive 2 min read
So if you do want nice gentle genetics, then it's a good idea to order in a queen from a queen breeder. That way, you'll get new genetics and you can ask for nice, gentle, productive, ideally hygienic as well, genetics for your queen. If you just split, it'll be a bit of a wild card. If you let them naturally raise their own queen, she might mate with rascal drones from down the road and you get some more aggression. It really does make a difference. Some hives are so calm that you don't even need a smoker or a suit, but some are really quite wild.
Not often. One split in a season would be enough to drastically reduce the swarming triggers, unless you have particularly swarming genetics. You just get bees sometimes that no matter how hard you try, they want to swarm. But mostly if you take a split from a hive, it'll take them the majority of the honey flow for them to build back up. And that will really reduce any swarming tendencies. And if you are splitting in spring at the moment when they are preparing to swarm, you might even notice they're already preparing queen cells, so you can put them straight into the split and that way you've also limited it.
They do a little bit. It's called drift. So bees will drift from one hive to the next, but ideally you're trying to get them not to do that. Really if you want no drift at all, you need to spread your hives 10 metres apart. Because bees do GPS-locate to that spot. So if you move that hive away, you'll notice so many bees coming back to that original position where the hive was, because they really lock onto it. However, when bees come back with almost their body weight in nectar and pollen and it's a little bit windy, they might get blown down the row a bit and go, "this will do, I don't care anymore." And they'll just end up in this hive down here and that's called drift.
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Harvest 21 kg (46 lb) of honey when your Flow Super is full
More room in the brood box for the queen to lay, which can lead to a bee colony of greater numbers.
Recommended for beekeeping in cold climates
10 frame Langstroth sizing
Harvest 18 kg (40 lb) of honey when your Flow Super is full
Our most popular Flow Hive size around the world
8 frame Langstroth sizing
Control the height and level of your hive perfectly, even on uneven ground, ensuring the ultimate slope for honey harvesting.
Keep your hive level to aid in straight foundationless brood comb formation
Keep your hive dry and off the ground, preventing ground dwelling pests from gaining easy access.
Flow Hive 2+ – 6 Frame
Flow Hive 2 – 6 Frame
8 frame Langstroth beehives
Flow Hive 2+ – 7 Frame
Flow Hive 2 – 7 Frame
10 frame Langstroth beehives
Bee suits are designed to be worn slightly baggy over your normal clothing, so it’s best to choose a slightly larger size than you would normally wear.
Be sure to give yourself plenty of room to move around with additional length for movement – ankles and wrists need to remain covered when you’re crouching, bending or stretching.
You do not want the suit to be tight fitting – it’s this loose fitting material that offers sting prevention.
If in doubt or between sizes, go up to the next size:
Height (cm) | Weight (kg) | ||||||||||
50 | 56 | 62 | 68 | 74 | 80 | 86 | 92 | 98 | 104 | 110 | |
145 - 150 | 2XS | 2XS | XS | S | |||||||
150 - 155 | 2XS | 2XS | XS | S | S | M | M | M | |||
155 - 160 | 2XS | 2XS | XS | S | S | M | M | M | L | ||
160 - 166 | XS | XS | XS | S | M | M | M | L | XL | XL | |
166 - 171 | XS | S | S | M | M | L | L | L | XL | XL | 2XL |
171 - 176 | M | M | M | M | L | L | L | L | XL | 2XL | 2XL |
176 - 181 | L | L | L | L | L | L | XL | XL | 2XL | 2XL | 3XL |
181 - 186 | L | L | L | L | XL | XL | XL | 2XL | 3XL | 4XL | |
186 - 191 | L | L | L | XL | XL | XL | 2XL | 3XL | 4XL | 5XL | |
191 - 197 | XL | XL | XL | 2XL | 2XL | 2XL | 3XL | 4XL | 5XL | ||
197 - 204 | 2XL | 2XL | 2XL | 3XL | 3XL | 4XL | 5XL | 5XL |
Height (feet) | Weight (lbs) | ||||||||||
110 | 123 | 137 | 150 | 163 | 176 | 190 | 203 | 216 | 229 | 243 | |
4'9" - 4'11" | 2XS | 2XS | XS | S | |||||||
4'11" - 5'1" | 2XS | 2XS | XS | S | S | M | M | M | |||
5'1" - 5'3" | 2XS | 2XS | XS | S | S | M | M | M | L | ||
5'3" - 5'5" | XS | XS | XS | S | M | M | M | L | XL | XL | |
5'5" - 5'7" | XS | S | S | M | M | L | L | L | XL | XL | 2XL |
5'7" - 5'9" | M | M | M | M | L | L | L | L | XL | 2XL | 2XL |
5'9" - 5'11" | L | L | L | L | L | L | XL | XL | 2XL | 2XL | 3XL |
5'11" - 6'1" | L | L | L | L | XL | XL | XL | 2XL | 3XL | 4XL | |
6'1" - 6'3" | L | L | L | XL | XL | XL | 2XL | 3XL | 4XL | 5XL | |
6'3" - 6'5" | XL | XL | XL | 2XL | 2XL | 2XL | 3XL | 4XL | 5XL | ||
6'5" - 6' 7" | 2XL | 2XL | 2XL | 3XL | 3XL | 4XL | 5XL | 5XL |
Due to global shipping difficulties some products are preorder. To allow you the most time building and preparing your new hive, we will ship your Flow Hive now, with your suit and smoker to follow when these items are both in stock at no extra cost.