Inventors Stuart and Cedar Anderson knew there had to be a better way to harvest honey from their beehives so they came up with the “Beekeepers Dream”. Their invention which took them a decade to develop, allows beekeepers to harvest honey straight from their beehives without opening it. This means the bees stress less and it makes it much easier for the beekeeper.
Although they have not released any detail on how this system works, it surely looks promising. Below you will find some information that you will receive once you enter your email address on their website.
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 which resets the comb into the original position and allows the bees to chew the wax capping away, and fill it with honey again. The Flow frames are inserted into standard bee supers (boxes) in much the same way as standard frames, however the box itself is 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.
Comments from the inventor:
“Many years ago…. I went down to one of my beehives, which I knew was a pretty wild hive. It was getting on towards evening and a bit of a grey day, not the best time for beekeeping!
So I put on the bee vale my grandma made me and pressed the gaffa tape back on the mesh that covered the holes. Then put on my glove, I couldn’t find the second one… I fired up the smoker and blew plenty of smoke into the hive. When I opened the lid my suspicions were confirmed. The bees weren’t happy about being disturbed…. I pulled the sleeve over my glovless hand, blew some more smoke into the hive and pulled some nice frames of honey out.
The hive was packed with bees and it was near impossible to get the honey out without squashing lots of them. I really dont like squashing bees.The bees got more grumpy and started to sting me through my bee suit. They weren’t happy….. I put the hive back together, squashing more bees as the lid went on and ended up running away across the field thinking there has to be a better way! So my Dad and I set to work on a decade long task of inventing the beekeepers dream.” Cedar Anderson – Inventor
“In 2014 I had the pleasure of testing the FlowTM frames… The bees quickly accepted the frames and in less than 2 weeks stored and capped 40 lb of honey. I must say it was quite exciting to see the first bit of honey appear at the outlet, then make its way down the tube into the jar. Mesmerizing.”John Gates – Canada
The video will be used as their fundraising campaign which they will launch on the 23rd of February. For more information or updates, please visit their website honeyflow.com.
