Hive Types - Part 1: Flow Hive with Stuart Anderson (S3, E48)

This week, we start our multi-part series on hive types other than the standard Langstroth.  We start with the Flow Hive.

In this episode, we talk with Stewart Anderson, who, with his son Cedar imagined and then created the Flow Hive, certainly the most cosmic jump in the technology of honey harvesting developed since the first mechanical honey extractor conceived by Major Franz Elder von Hruschka in 1865.

It started on a hot summer day 16 years ago when Cedar had spent a long day cranking his extractor harvesting his honey crop. Cranky bees, humid tropical weather and lots of work made Cedar ask his dad if there was some way to harvest honey without having to open a hive. So that evening they spent a couple of hours trying to figure out the equation that would change honey harvesting forever.

They actually figured out that to make that happen they needed to make the honey flow vertically in the hive to be collected at the bottom, somehow. That simple discovery had to overcome opening ripe honey cells, dealing with the cappings, reclosing the cell, removing the now disrupted capping wax, and seeing if the bees would reuse the cells. Or even abscond.

Their website photos show how they made that work and work well, with plastic frames inside the Langstroth deep hive body that could be offset with a crank on the outside of the box, offsetting the cells in the frame so the honey drained to a pipe below, to empty into honey bottles outside. Harvesting honey without opening the hive.

But getting there took them a score of years, figuring out how to manufacture the frames needed, to make them fit, how to make it all fit, and how to market this. Their first intentions were to make this a tool for commercial beekeepers in their home country of Australia. But it turns out, it was the perfect tool for the hobby market, and, to their surprise, these customers wanted the whole hive, not just the deep super with all the gadgets inside. Life then got interesting for them.

Listen as Stu talk with us about his and more!

Links and websites mentioned in this podcast:

• Flow Hive - https://www.honeyflow.com
• Kim's Book on Cicadas by Gene Kritsky - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0867271736/

• Honey Bee Obscura Podcast - https://www.honeybeeobscura.com

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We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. BetterBee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com

This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode! 

We want to also thank 2 Million Blossoms as a sponsor of the podcast. 2 Million Blossoms is a quarterly magazine destined for your coffee table. Each page of the magazine is dedicated to the stories and photos of all pollinators and written by leading researchers, photographers and our very own, Kim Flottum.

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We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: [email protected]

Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com

Thank you for listening! 

Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"; Musicalman, "Epilogue". Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott

Beekeeping Today Podcast is an audio production of Growing Planet Media, LLC