Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Your bees will bugger off if the hive conditions deteriorate and you will have the expense of buying more.

Hives should be inspected for disease and pests because if left untreated/unmanaged in your hobby hive they could spread to a commercial operation which impacts them greatly because they need healthy hives to make a living.

i thought impacting on industry might be a concern.
luckily im in the middle of a large city so there is extremely little chance of that.
I simply wouldnt want to turn managing my single hive into a job, whether it be fulltime or parttime.

They are still livestock that need to be cared for. The flow hive just make harvesting easier. All the other chores involved in checking the hive and monitoring its health still need to be done.

I thought the window and not disturbing for honey made things much less intensive to manage - like 2x per year?
I too am a interested backyarder with no Bee experience
Is it just me or $600 USD expensive for a hive kit?

Jet- No, it's not expensive. If you look at hives, they range from 350-650.00 and most need assembly. From the small amount of research I've done, you can make a decent hive for under $100.00, but it's a lot of labor and time and requires some above average wood working skills. I am decent with wood, and have the tools, but not the time or inclination to spend that much time on a bee hive.

It is a fair wack of money but its not expensive.

The window is so you can monitor how the honey is being layed down in the frames in the super. You still have to inspect the brood box and make sure everything is going well in there.

I thought it was $600AUD?

Nope US$

I'd imagine once mass production can come in with these things, and injection molds are made, the price will come down.

Do the boxes need to be made out of wood?

Stuart can brood box have window placed in it or does it have to remain completely dark in there?

They have put up panother video of harvesting one frame

I think it is more about the alingment. If the window is in the side you can only see one side of one frame. If the window is in the end then you can't really see the face of the frame to inspect it for disease.

Yes it is expensive.
Here in Perth it is possible to get a new hive complete with bees and all equipment for $500AU.
You are paying for convenience and novelty. Not saying it's not a great idea, jus' saying.

As a newbie beek how many hives should one start with?

I've been a hobby beekeeper for a while and I think this idea looks awesome. I won't rush out and buy one just yet, but part of me does hope the prediction in an earlier post comes true - that a fare number of non bee-keepers will get some then want to sell them cheep soon afterwards.

As for remembering all the hive maintenance chores other than harvesting (checking for disease, for example). I totally agree, and fine by me. I find that stuff interesting.