1. Crowdfunding campaigns

2. Criticisms of the design

3. Impact on amateur beekeeping

4. References

The Flow Hive is a beehive designed to allow honey to be extracted simply by turning a lever: the hive does not have to be opened and the bees are not disturbed as in normal extraction.

The frames contain a partially-formed plastic honeycomb lattice with vertical gaps. Bees fill in these gaps with beeswax and fill the cells with honey. When the mechanism of the frames is activated, the vertical gaps are offset by one half of a cell, breaking the wax seal and allowing the honey to flow down through the cells into a channel at the base of each frame and out into a collection vessel.^[1] The system is then reset and the bees remove the capping and reseal the cells, beginning the process again.^[1]

Queen excluders are recommended to keep the queen from laying brood in the flow cells.^[2] The Flow Hive system costs significantly more than traditional hives, limiting their commercial usefulness,^[2] though its inventors say that cost benefits due to decreased labour costs realised during informal semi-commercial trials, and the premium prices Flow honey can fetch, are increasing its appeal to the commercial sector.

The design was copied by Chinese (USA-registered shell company) Tapcomb.^[5] Co-inventor Cedar Anderson said this copy clearly infringed on their patents, which cover all designs that have split cells to drain honey.^[3] TapComb ceased trading in late 2018.^[4]

Crowdfunding campaigns

The Flow Hive system was invented in Australia by Cedar Anderson and his father Stuart Anderson. In February 2015, they launched a campaign on crowdfunding platform Indiegogo hoping to raise $70,000 for a custom injection mould. Instead, they raised over $12 million and received nearly 25,000 orders from over 130 countries.^[5] The campaign broke several records for Indiegogo, becoming its most successful campaign.^[6] By March 2018, 51,000 orders had been shipped.^[7]

The Flow Hive 2, which included a number of small improvements, was launched via another crowdfunding campaign in early 2018.^[8] The second campaign raised over $14.9 million.^[9]

Criticisms of the design

There were speculative criticisms of the design made by a beekeeping journalists and bloggers during the first Indiegogo campaign.^[10]

• Use of plastic comb: Some believe plastic comb may inadvertently keep toxins in the honey and act as a barrier to the environment and criticise the Flow Hive for using plastic comb.^[10]
• Crystallisation: Especially in colder climates, honey can thicken or crystallise, preventing honey from flowing.^[10] If this prevents operation of the Flow Hive mechanism, it can be addressed by either waiting for the bees to remove the crystallised honey, or soaking the frame in water to dissolve it away.^[11]
• Promotion as 'honey on tap': In the first advertisements for the Flow Hive, it was marketed as a way to remove honey "without disturbing the bees". Many experienced beekeepers took issue with this, as they said it promoted a lack of maintenance of hives. Bee hives require regular maintenance and observation to check for diseases and other problems that might arise. Cedar Anderson responded to the criticism, changing the way that the Flow Hive was marketed, and specifying that all that changes with the Flow Hive system is the process of harvesting of honey, and that the rest of the beekeeping process should remain the same.^[12][13]

While some beekeepers have called the Flow Hive "a solution in search of a problem",^[12] others note that the Flow Hive simplifies the arduous practice of extracting honey, especially for small beekeepers because expensive extraction equipment (centrifuge, filters) is not required.^[14]

Impact on amateur beekeeping

In Australia, a rapid increase in new members joining existing beekeeping clubs, the capping of new memberships by some clubs and the establishment of at least one new club have been attributed to the Flow Hive.^[15]

References

• Holy tongue
• Holytown
• Holytown railway station
• Holy Tradition
• Holy Trinity, Alabama
• Holy Trinity, Brompton
• Holy Trinity Cathedral
• Holy Trinity Cathedral (Addis Ababa)
• Holy Trinity Cathedral, Auckland
• Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi
• Holy Trinity Cathedral, Palayamkottai
• Holy Trinity Cathedral, Tbilisi
• Holy Trinity Catholic and Church of England School
• Holy Trinity Catholic Church (Washington, D.C.)
• Holy Trinity Catholic High School
• Holy Trinity Catholic High School (Kanata)
• Holy Trinity Catholic High School (Ottawa)
• Holy Trinity Catholic High School (Simcoe)
• Holy Trinity Catholic High School (Simcoe, Ontario)
• Holy Trinity Catholic High School (Texas)
• Holy Trinity Catholic Schools
• Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School
• Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School (Courtice)
• Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School (Oakville)
• Holy Trinity Chapel, Capesthorne