Honey on tap? Beehive design makes a buzz

The Flow Hive allows the beekeeper to harvest honey on tap directly from the beehive. This completely changes the process of traditional honey harvesting.

Traditional harvesting method:

• smoke the bees and open the hive
• lift heavy boxes
• pull out all of the frames
• trying not to squash the bees
• brush off all the bees
• transport the frames
• cut off the wax capping
• spin the frames in a centrifuge
• filter the honey
• put all the frames back

Honey harvesting with Honey Flow:

• turn the Flow Key
• watch as pure, untouched, unprocessed, untreated honey flows straight from the hive and into your jar 

Aside from the obvious logistical advantages this system affords, Cedar Anderson explained: "Harvesting honey is so much easier for the beekeeper, and so much easier on the bees." By not having to remove the frames from the hive to extract the honey, bees are not disturbed, and there is no chance of them getting squashed in the process. 

The unique Flow Frame design consists of partly formed honeycomb cells which the bees then complete with wax themselves before filling in with honey. When the honey is ready, the bees cap the combs. Usually, this would require a hot knife, or similarly difficult process, to remove the wax after transporting the frames, to get the honey out. 

With the Flow Frame, the beekeeper inserts the Flow Key into a slot and rotates it 90° downwards, this splits the cells and the honey channels down the frame and out of the tap into a jar. The cells can then be closed again, ready for the bees to inspect and start to rebuild again and fill with more honey. 

While this beehive simplifies honey harvesting, and with its observation window, allows beekeepers to keep an eye on their hive, the frames will still need to be removed for health inspections of the colony. 

With bee numbers declining, this system invites beginners to learn more about beekeeping, while making the process of making honey less daunting. 

Honeycomb
The collected honey is free from wax and ready for the table straight away. Bees use 7kg of honey to make just 1kg of honeycomb wax, but as they do not need to rebuild the entire comb in the Flow Frames, this leads to improved honey production.

For those who still want to harvest honeycomb, they can purchase the Flow Hybrid which allows the beekeeper to combine traditional frames with Flow Frames to have honey on tap and honeycomb wax in the same hive. 

Inspiration
Cedar Anderson and his father Stuart Anderson, were inspired to create a beehive which did not disturb the bees, yet made honey harvesting simple as traditional methods are, "a real labour of love," Cedar Anderson explains in the Flow Hive video. 

Flow Hive achieves this, and is available on Indiegogo for a limited time. Not only is it a more natural way to harvest the honey, without disturbing the bees and without treating the honey, Flow Hive is also made from sustainably sourced wood, with BPA free frames.