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Amazing Invention - Flow: Honey on Tap Directly From your BeehiveAmazing Invention - Flow: Honey on Tap Directly From your Beehive
Posted by Renaud Margry on Jueves, 12 de marzo de 2015
New beehive harvests honey without bugging bees
The Flow Hive, set for a Kickstarter crowdfunding debut, introduces a simple new way to harvest honey from a backyard beehive without stressing the bees or the beekeeper.
Flow Hive with bucket
A new beehive called Flow Hive hopes to attract crowdfunding backers by offering a simple way to harvest honey without stressing out the bees or the beekeeper.
This picture shows a Flow Hive arranged to drain into a bucket. The taps open up to allow the honey to flow out in an unobtrusive way.
Related article: Sweet! Flow Hive collects honey at the turn of a tap
Sweet! Flow Hive collects honey at the turn of a tap
New beehive makes collecting honey as easy as turning on a tap and letting the sweet liquid gold flow.
by Amanda Kooser February 20, 2015 11:07 AM PST
I have a lot of friends with backyard beehives. I've watched the busy workers through little windows and seen a "bee vacuum" in action to collect a renegade hive. A lot of work goes into maintaining bees and harvesting honey. The bees aren't thrilled about the honey-collection process and the humans generally end up with a few stings.
The Flow Hive, a new beehive design, intends to make gathering honey a low-stress proposition for both beekeepers and their flying friends.
The Flow Hive uses special frames with partially formed honeycomb cells. The bees settle in, complete the comb and fill the cells with honey. A tap on the outside of the hive splits the cells when it's turned on. The honey flows through channels and drains out of the hive. Turn the tap off and the cells are once again in their original spots, ready for the bees to refill.
http://www.cnet.com/news/sweet-flow-hive-collects-honey-at-the-turn-of-a-tap/
http://www.cnet.com/news/sweet-flow-hive-collects-honey-at-the-turn-of-a-tap/
It's the beekeepers dream...
Turn a tap and watch as pure, fresh, clean honey flows right out of the hive and into your jar. No mess, no fuss, no expensive processing equipment and the bees are hardly even disturbed.
"This really is a revolution. You can see into the hive, see when the honey is ready and take it away in such a gentle way."
We are very excited to introduce our new invention that allows you to enjoy fresh honey straight out of your beehive without opening it. It's far less stress for the bees and much, much easier for the beekeeper.
You can buy, pledge and support Flow™ on Indiegogo here.
This option contains the complete Flow Hive ready to go (except for the bees!)
Includes:
6 x Flow frames (to fit a Langstroth 8 frame)
Brood box (bottom box) with standard frames
Top box (super)
Roof
3 x tubes to drain 3 frames at a time
1 x stainless steel ‘key’ tool to open Flow frames
Flow hive Manual
Does not include:
Bees
Cost: Complete Full Flow Hive = $600 AVAILABLE
Note: Shipping will be charged prior to delivery at the best rates possible.
Potentially More Honey can be Harvested
You can just harvest 1 frame and get 7 lbs (3kg) of honey or, if the bees have filled all the frames, harvest more than 45 lbs (20kg) per box. Being able to extract so easily means that when there is a good honey flow you can keep up with the bees and harvest a lot more honey.
No Wax, No Filtering, It's pure fresh unprocessed Honey, Ready For The Table
It’s a totally pure flow from the hive just using gravity. No need for filtering or any kind of processing, no heating at all (not even from a hot knife). The honey comes out pure, clean (no wax and bee bits) and extra tasty!
Taste All The Different Flavours of The Seasons!
Because you can harvest individual combs, you can taste the many different flavours of the season, all from the one hive.
It is well known that unprocessed honey eaten directly from the honey comb has more flavour (the honeys are not mixed or processed and there has been less exposure to oxygen). It was a surprise to us to get frequent feedback that the honey from a Flow™ hive has full and unique flavours that before were only possible from eating honeycomb.
The Bees Happily Build on the Flow frames
The flow frame consists of already partly formed honeycomb cells, the bees complete the comb with their wax and fill the cells with honey.
Less Chance of Stings
Because the bees experience little disturbance during harvesting, they are usually non-aggressive and much less likely to try and defend their hive and sting you. Depending on how busy they are with gathering nectar, they may not even notice you at the back of the hive. However, if you are unfamiliar with beekeeping or react badly to stings, you should wear a bee veil and gloves and cover all your skin when approaching a hive.
For all those ‘beeks’ out there…
We have built the Flow frame to accommodate a pneumatic system allowing for the possibility of automated harvest and remote harvest. The options are endless. Put a hive on your roof and pipe the honey right into your kitchen at the press of a button. This will be an available upgrade in the future.
Compatible with Your Existing Hive
Flow™ frames can be combined with standard frames in the same super so you can try a few Flow frames in your existing hive.
Neighbours less likely to be alarmed by upset bees during harvesting.
Bees sometimes get very upset and aggressive when their hive is pulled apart for harvesting. This is not a problem in rural areas, however hives in the backyard or on the balcony can be close to others. Your unsuspecting neighbours may be harassed or stung, not good for neighbourly PR. As the bees go about their usual busy business when Flow frames are harvested, the neighbours are unlikely to even notice that you are extracting honey.
POSSIBLE RISKS & CHALLENGES - THINGS TO BEAR IN MIND
We have worked for many years developing and perfecting this product, however there will always be improvements and innovations that we hope will be informed by your feedback. By pledging to support this innovation you are doing so with the understanding that this is a new product that you are making possible - allowing cutting edge technology to be realised.
MANUFACTURING: We are working closely with a manufacturer who has been able to produce our Flow frames at a high quality so we have already resolved some of the manufacturing challenges. However to produce on a larger scale will require increased tooling and production equipment and this is where some delay could occur.
FULFILMENT: Despite the best planning, there may be factors that we cannot control such as equipment malfunction, transport or supplier delays. While we hope that your support on Indiegogo will enable us to begin production on a commercial scale we have no idea as to whether it will be 'business as usual' for us or an overwhelming demand. If more people than we anticipate want a Flow hive we may have to scale up the factory or set up manufacturing in other countries. We will endeavour to produce the product quickly and make sure that the early backers are given priority to receive their Flow kits.
PRODUCT ADJUSTMENTS: Extensive testing of the latest Flow design has taken place over the past three years and we think we have a product that is ready for market. However adjustments may be made along the way (as we can’t think of everything). This will result in a better product but may delay production or shipment in some cases.
BEE ENTHUSIASM: If you are new to beekeeping, welcome to the exciting new world. As a new beekeeper it is important to be fully informed about all aspects of what is involved in caring for bees. Some of these answers can be found on our website and in our FAQs. We also strongly recommend you join your local beekeeping club for additional support.
FLOW HIVE DOES NOT PROVIDE THE ACTUAL BEES: The Flow Hive provides the frames (Flow Lite) or entire Hive (Flow Flow), but does not supply the bees. You will need to connect with your local beekeeper or club to source your own bees.
SHIPPING: Shipping will be charged prior to delivery at the best rates possible. There has been an overwhelming response to Flow which will probably mean setting up more manufacturing in America. If this comes about, shipping prices will be much reduced for America and Europe.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What are Flow Frames?
“Flow™” is the name of our new invention that allows honey to be harvested directly from the hive without opening the hive and with little disturbance to the bees. The Flow frames are the beehive frames that make this possible.
What is a Flow Hive?
A Flow Hive is our term for a standard beehive using a brood box with one or more Flow Supers for honey storage and extraction. A honeybee hive is usually made up of two boxes; the brood box where the queen bee lays eggs, and the ‘super’ with honeycomb for the storage of honey. A ‘Flow Super’ is a beehive box using Flow Frames that the bees store honey in.
How do the Flow Frames work?
The Flow frame consists of already partly formed honeycomb cells. The bees complete the comb with their wax, fill the cells with honey and cap the cells as usual. When you turn the tool, a bit like a tap, the cells split vertically inside the comb forming channels, allowing the honey to flow down to a sealed trough at the base of the frame and out of the hive, while the bees are practically undisturbed on the comb surface.
When the honey has finished draining, you turn the tap again in the upper slot which resets the comb into the original position and allows the bees to chew the wax capping away, and fill it with honey again.
How do I stop the bees getting to the honey while it's draining out of the Flow hive?
Quite often we can drain the honey out without the bees even noticing us at the back of the hive, but sometimes they do and you will need to cover the jars, or better still, make a sealed system. This can be achieved by simply making a hole in the lid of a jar for a tube to go into.
If you are using a bucket, you can put many holes through the lid of the bucket or make up a manifold.
Do I need a Flow box for the brood box too?
No, the brood box stays the same as it always has been. You can simply replace the honey supers on a standard beehive with one or more Flow Supers.
Can I fit the Flow frames into my existing beehives?
We want this to be as affordable as possible so we have designed it so you can use your own boxes. The Flow frames are designed to fit Langstroth size deep boxes and are inserted into standard bee supers (boxes) in much the same way as standard frames. The box itself is slightly modified by cutting two access doorways in one end. When the frames are inserted, the ends of the frames now form the end of the super. This allows access to the operating slots and honey pipe outlets.
Does the Flow Super fit an 8 or 10 frame Langstroth hive?
The flow frames will fit either an 8 or 10 frame Langstroth. A full “8 frame, deep” Super would take six Flow frames, and the 10 frame super would take 7 Flow frames as they are wider than traditional frames. It is also possible to have a combination of traditional Langstroth frames and Flow frames in the one Super.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/flow-hive-honey-on-tap-directly-from-your-beehive
http://www.honeyflow.com/
https://www.facebook.com/flowhive
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