A hive with flowing honey raised $ 2 million

    The crowdfunding campaign has just begun, but funding has already been completed by 3000%


    On February 14, a video appeared on the network with a demonstration of the hive project, to extract honey from which it is enough to substitute the container and wait until it is full. The video was very popular and gained a million views in two days. Actually , the crowdfunding campaign , in which the video called for participation, began on February 22, and its success was no less stunning: the project became Indiegogo's record holder for the speed of recruiting the first and second millions.

    And this is not surprising: extracting honey from hives is the most time-consuming and time-consuming work in beekeeping. Traditionally, this operation consists of many steps, the main ones are opening the hive, removing the bees, printing honeycombs with honey and the operation of the centrifuge of the honey extractor. It is also possible to drain honey without any help and then heat exposure. And the Australian project Flow offers a solution in which to extract honey you do not need to open the hive and disturb the bees - you only need a container into which the finished product will drain. The designed hive has three Flow frames between four normal frames.




    The idea was born on the north coast of New South Wales as a result of many bites through protective gear and annoyance from dozens of crushed bees. Father and son Kedar and Stuart Andersons have been developing this project for a decade. The result was a plastic (without bisphenol A) Flow frame, which consists of partially formed honeycombs.

    Bees finish the honeycombs with wax, lay the product and seal it. The Flow frame opens in the middle. Honey flows down from two rows of honeycombs without the need to disturb the bee colony with a smoke. Then the honeycombs are closed again so that the bees can print the empty honeycombs and continue collecting the product - the bees almost immediately notice that the honeycombs are empty. Bees reuse part of the wax, which can improve performance and the delivery of honey. The plexiglass window allows you to see when the honey is sealed and ready for collection. Honey flows from Flow




    The authors call their invention the most significant innovation in beekeeping since 1852, hinting that Flow is on a par with Langstroth's hive. It is easy to see that the novelty not only saves time and makes the process painless for bees, but also puts the receipt of honey in the framework of a simple process available for those who are not ready to buy expensive equipment. Bees often become aggressive when disassembling their hive. It is promised that with Flow the beekeeper’s neighbors will not notice the honey collection process.

    There are several options available for backers: you can get either a ready-made Flow Box or several Flow frames to include them in your own design of a standard hive. Prices start at $ 230, you can find them on the project page. For $ 600, a backer will receive a kit for collecting a fully finished beehive, for which you only need to find bees.



    Australians claim on the basis of several years of observation that bees do not have any particular preferences and fill Flow cells with the same frequency as cells of ordinary frames. It is also stated that each frame brings up to 3 kg of honey, and the frequency of possible collection varies depending on the strength of the family and can range from a week at peak season to a month. Honey needs twenty minutes to two hours to drain. It is also recommended that you wear protective clothing. Of course, do not forget to leave part of the honey for wintering bees.

    Crowdfunding campaign . 40 days are left until its end, but it is already clear that the final amount of financing will be much more than the requested 70 thousand dollars.
    Patent of invention (without pictures)
    Project site

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