Bees for a Dry Flow HiveA night install in Alice Springs
A Flow Hive kit turns up as timber and plastic. No bees, no drawn comb, no honey. The brood frames had no foundation, only a thin timber starting strip. Tip a colony into that and drive off, and you're asking for brace comb and frames you can't pull apart.
We didn't photograph this job. The pictures show the hive and the steps, not the owner's yard.
- Where
- Alice Springs
- When
- November 2026. Hot, and not much nectar about.
- Kit
- Flow Hive, completely dry
- Brood frames
- No foundation. A timber starter strip.
- What went in
- A nuc, extra frames, brood and the queen
- How
- Bottom box stocked at home. Installed on the stand after dark.
The kit turns up empty
The honey super is the bit in the adverts. Plastic cells, a key, and honey out a tap. Flow calls them Flow Frames. The brood box under it is an ordinary box. In this kit the frames had nothing on them but a thin timber strip under the top bar, so the bees had somewhere to start wax. There was no foundation. You add that yourself, or you leave it off.
I didn't tip them in
Brace comb is the mess bees make when they build wax wherever they like. Between frames, onto the walls, across the gaps. Pull one frame and the next one comes with it. A new owner with zero experience does not want their first look inside to be that.
I made up a nuc with extra frames, because a dry kit gives the bees nothing to live on. At home I moved frames that already had brood, and the queen, into the kit's bottom box. Then I took that box over after dark and sat it on the stand. Bees stay put at night. You can shift them without half the foragers left in your yard, or boiling out of the entrance on the drive.
The advertising is unrealistic
It tells complete novices to have a go while they have zero experience. This owner was in that camp. That's workable if someone stocks the hive before the bees arrive. Last year I supplied bees to another Flow Hive owner in the same spot. Those bees just disappeared. I never saw the hive, and there are no photos, so I won't guess why. A dry box and a first hive is a hard way to start.
Have a look at Flow's Deluxe Starter Bundle. Hive, suit, gloves, smoker, tools, a book, even a month of their online course. No bees. That bit's on you.
Hot, and the jars are last year's
It's getting hot, and there isn't much honey coming in. I've split a few nucs. The queens from those are going to a couple of people around town. Want one? Send an enquiry. A local nuc is the same conversation.
What I do have plenty of is honey from the year before. That's what's in the jars on the shop while this flow stays quiet.
If you're buying a Flow Hive
Do Flow Hive brood frames come with foundation?
The honey frames are formed plastic cells. The brood frames in the kit I installed had no wax foundation, only a thin timber starting strip under the top bar.
Can you put bees straight into a new Flow Hive?
You can. I don't. An empty box means the colony has to draw every comb before it has a proper brood nest. That's when frames end up stuck together with brace comb.
Why install a hive at night?
Bees stay in the box after dark. Move them in daylight and the foragers are still out, or they pour out of the entrance while you're driving.
What happened to the other Flow Hive colony?
I supplied bees last year to another new Flow Hive owner. The colony disappeared. I did not inspect that hive and there are no photos, so I don't know the cause.
Do you sell nucs and queen bees?
Queens are by enquiry, posted once they're mated and laying. I also make nucs by splitting for people around Alice Springs. Ask if you want one locally.
Is there honey for sale when the flow is quiet?
Yes. Last year's harvest is jarred and on the shop. The desert is hot and the bees are not bringing much in.