The 'flow' patent application going far beyond the draining of honey.

There are no figures at www.google.com/patents/US20140370781 and www.freepatentsonline.com/20140370781.pdf is scanned so the drawings are less than legible. The best content is at pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/auspat/pdfSource.do?fileQuery=cm%7Dz%82yHz%81p%7D1qtwpylxpHL%60%3D%3B%3C%3D%3E%40BA%40%3BL%3C%3D%3B%3C%3F%3BB%3D%3F9%7Boq1m%7Dz%82yHz%81p%7D

"The invention provides many advantages to the collection of honey from a hive. These may include:

- A beehive that allows the honey to be removed from the hive without opening the hive. At the flick of a switch, or turn of a lever, honey comes flowing out of a tube connected to the hive.
- A system that allows you to rob the honey from an entire apiary at the flick of a switch
- A beehive that is built of plastic with all parts spaced perfectly and locked in position with no places for pests to hide and no spaces for brace or bir comb to be built.
- A beehive that that includes all the known pest control methods. eg. Mite brush in entrance and beetle and mite traps on the bottom board.
- A folding landing board that gives more room for landing and also acts as a closure for transport.
- A beehive where the bees are hardly disturbed when the honey is robbed. Almost no bees die.
- A bee hive with a bee feeder built into the lid. The feeder can also be used for medication.
- Method for heating the honey in the hives without heating the bees. This allows the honey to flow easily and more quickly.
- A system allowing an entire apiary to stay on a truck or trailer allowing it to be easily moved without the manual labor of shifting the hives on their own.
- A control unit allowing the honey production of each hive to be monitored. This gives early detection of weak or diseased hives.
- 90% (or more) less labor. No need to open hives, smoke bees, remove frames, transport to processing shed, cut off capping, extract with centrifuge, transport back to hive and put the frames back, and then clean up.
- Less equipment needed. No need for the honey shed, decapping machine and extracting machine
- No Mess and no waste.
- Fewer pest problems.
- More production as bees don't have to make as much wax or do as much repair work from damage during traditional robbing. Bees use 7kg of honey to make 1kg of wax.
- Can rob from a distance at the flick of a switch or automated avoiding the need for a smoker and bee suit and avoiding stings.
- Robust, all frames are locked firmly in place for trouble free transport.
- Automatable. Can run on auto pilot. Systems can be set up to send a message to the honey tanker when the honey tank is full for collecting. Web cams to monitor the system may also be provided.
- Measurable. Load cells can give information on honey production and therefore hive condition
- Hive can be robbed more often and automatically as soon as full, Increasing production and negating the need for tall stacks of hives.
- Can rob any time of day in any weather.
- Higher return on investment then current beekeeping.

The second half of the patent reads like a kitchen sink of ideas that are not original e.g. the use of sensors, actuators, a hinged bottom board which can be closed for transporting the hive, thermostatically controlled vents, et al.

The claims in the patent includes the use of weight sensors, actuators, and automation.


Michael Bush experimented with a half-dozen frames and described his experience at www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?307501-Extractor-less-honey-by-quot-Honey-Flow-quot-Flow-Hive/page3:

   "...they sent me a box worth of them to test, I can assure you it works. My test of it so far is too small and over too short of a time to be sure what I think of it in practice, but I can't imagine that I'm going to find too many disadvantages. My issue now is, I'm not sure how I will manage my hives using them as it changes several things I have always done.
   - First, I run all eight frame mediums and these are deeps, so I'll have to buy some deeps (which I already did).
   - Second, it makes a hive much more static in size when you can empty the combs without even opening the hive really.
   - No need to stack the supers up so high when you can just drain them periodically without having to clean up the extractor and all the equipment and the kitchen every time. Just draining it into a bucket eliminates all of that mess.
   - The queen won't lay in them because they are too deep so you don't need an excluder (which I don't use, but some people do).
   - You don't have to run the bees out to harvest so you eliminate all of that part of harvesting as well.

   In recent years I've had all the same size boxes and I try to leave them honey for winter. This may change my view of some of how I determine what to leave them since these are deeper combs and can't be used for brood I don't think I want them to cluster in them over winter. So I'll have to work out the details of how I will use them as far as when to put them on, take them off, drain them, how many mediums to have on below them etc. In other words, I'm pretty sure I'll be using them, it will just be too useful not to, but exactly how that impacts my total system I'm not really sure, until I've tried to work those details out."

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