Starting out the Flow Hive way

So, for someone new all around and going the Flow Hive way…what are the steps after constructing the Flow Hive and you have your newly bought bees from a local bee supplier?

Welcome to the forum, Michael.
There’s a lot to learn and starting up going into winter will be challenging. My suggestion is join a local club. They usually run beginner classes and have mentors. Local knowledge is valuable. Watch videos from reputable sources such as universities. University of Florida have an excellent beginner series by Prof. Jamie Ellis.
Mike

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Welcome to the forum! :blush: As Mike mentioned joining a bee club or taking a class can be a great way to start. If you can’t find one locally, we have a comprehensive online course Online Beekeeping Course | TheBeekeeper.org - Flow Hive US which we recommend for all new beekeepers. This is a subscription-based course, but the first month is free. There are no locked-in contracts so you can cancel at any time. You can also reach out to our support team along the way at info@honeyflow.com

Hi Michael and welcome! You got solid advice so far, but I thought I’d just clarify that beekeeping with a Flow hive is almost entirely the same as with any other setup. The big difference is the manner of harvesting honey. So, any decent beekeeping class and experienced mentoring will get you at least 90% of the knowledge you need.

About classes, and interactions with experienced beeks using traditional setups - I and many others would caution you to read the room well before mentioning your lovely new Flow kit, however. Unfortunately there is still misinformation about it being “bad” for bees, or about Flow owners being less than ept at beekeeping. Though a few might have earned that rep, to be fair there are always those who try but struggle at any new challenge, and beekeeping certainly is a big one at first. As you’ll see when you browse this forum, loads of us are doing just fine.

So, enjoy a class and connect to locals while you wait to start the season! And check out the many in-depth discussions here, packed with decades of beekeeping wisdom as well as the helpful Flow harvesting and seasonal tweaks to add to your overall competency. Don’t be shy to ask any questions as you go.

Here’s a bunch of NC threads I found as well - maybe some of these members live near you:

https://forum.honeyflow.com/search

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