Flow Hive - more info

Never have got this apple mullarkey - just seems to be a toy for people who want to pay waaaaay over the odds for.......................... a bog standard laptop with a stylised picture of a fruit on the lid

madasafish said:

My attitude to new technology is: don't be the first to buy. ...

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Douglas Adams described "technology" as being 'something that doesn't quite work yet'.

A very interesting Radio 4 programme last week reflected on "Did Douglas Get It Right?" in his musings 15 years ago on how technology would impact us. An affectionate tribute to a spectacularly fresh-thinking bloke who unfortunately never had the time to get old.
Well worth a listen if you missed it http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0557671

I buy Android devices these days!

itma said:

Douglas Adams described "technology" as being 'something that doesn't quite work yet'.
...
Well worth a listen if you missed it http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0557671

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Well, to correct myself slightly, he approvingly quoted the original source ...

Apple are about 5 years behind technology wise. Posers buy stylish Apple products to match their expensive stylish haircuts.

Ely said:

Posers buy stylish Apple products to match their expensive stylish haircuts.

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Sigh.................................... At least you didn't preface your sentence with only
Normal people with normal haircuts buy them too....

Ely said:

Apple are about 5 years behind technology wise. Posers buy stylish Apple products to match their expensive stylish haircuts.

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Have you come out of the woods yet?

Another take on the flow hive by Cody Reeder
Now at $6, 867, 403 USD
http://youtu.be/X4v4IHGvPLA

Have they actually patented it?

that won't make any difference in China! They don't believe in Patents or Copyright! If it's successful, and worth copying, and making a profit, they will.

Where they live in Australia winter minimum temp of 11C and daily maximum of 19C. Summer daily temp of 27C no wonder the frames flow easily.

Anduril said:

Another take on the flow hive by Cody Reeder
Now at $6, 867, 403 USD
http://youtu.be/X4v4IHGvPLA

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He makes a good point about some of the money being better spent on research into varroa and disease.

BeeJayBee said:

He makes a good point about some of the money being better spent on research into varroa and disease.

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or the Andersons', but their own private island, and abscond with all the money!

and just state the project is a failure and cannot deliver!

I think it's interesting as the crowd funding site states

"Choose the Perk you want to pledge / purchase"

It's not a purchase, it's a donation, pledge, and in return you may get a reward/perk! BUT no guarantees! and the money is sent to Indiegogo! Investors beware!

$600, a lot to lose!

and also attracting new beekeepers to the hobby, they'll be in for a shock!

I wonder if Flow-Hive, will be providing Bees or training courses, on how to keep a colony.....

"So excited to become a beekeeper! News of the demise of bee populations is very disturbing…hope., with this wonderful hive, I can introduce another swarm in my town and be part of the solution."

"So Excited to have home made honey!"

Anduril said:

Where they live in Australia winter minimum temp of 11C and daily maximum of 19C. Summer daily temp of 27C no wonder the frames flow easily.

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The temperature INSIDE my hives at honey harvest time is about 35 degrees so honey should flow readily - whether it would flow with semi-granulated OSR or Ivy honeys or even heather honey is a whole different question!

CVB

einsteinagogo said:

It's not a purchase, it's a donation, pledge, and in return you may get a reward/perk! BUT no guarantees! and the money is sent to Indiegogo! Investors beware!

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They have just recently sorted out the shipping rates, and want these to also be paid to Indiegogo, a few million more, being as it is going to be several moths before anyone gets anything, I wonder, why not let people pay the shipping cost nearer the time, when the items are ready to ship.

Hivemaker. said:

They have just recently sorted out the shipping rates, and want these to also be paid to Indiegogo, a few million more, being as it is going to be several moths before anyone gets anything, I wonder, why not let people pay the shipping cost nearer the time, when the items are ready to ship.

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They now have a whole new world of managing subscribers over a year or more to explore. Calculating, matching and chasing incremental payments through an entry panel where any amount can be typed in. Not something you see very often; there might be a reason for that. And they haven't started on combined shipping costs yet. Steep learning curve in customer management ahead.

einsteinagogo said:

that won't make any difference in China! They don't believe in Patents or Copyright! If it's successful, and worth copying, and making a profit, they will.

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And little yellow people are pretty efficient at doing that too. The clone versions of many smartphones become available now even before the real item gets launched in the shops.

alanf said:

Steep learning curve in customer management ahead.

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Or an unmitigated disaster ... because at the same time they have to organise manufacture, packaging, storage, distribution, after sales and manage the current business and the future of the operation. Whilst they have a lot of money to play with if they get any of this wrong their profit margins will suffer and whilst they have a positive cash flow at present if their profit margins are eroded (overheads are often difficult to predict when you scale up an enterprise as they are not always proportional to the original model) they could well end up losing money (or running out of money and not be able to fulfill the 'orders').

If I were them I would be looking for an island to buy and pull up the drawbridge .... retirement sounds like a much more attractive proposition ! They will upset a lot of small(ish) investors but they could well be heading on that course anyway if they ever get round to shipping any product.

And what about this for a statement .. "Put a hive on your roof and pipe the honey right into your kitchen at the press of a button. This will be an available upgrade in the future."

Yehhhh - in your dreams !

And the one thing I am not totally clear about is what (assuming you ever get to that point !) do you do with the flow frames after the season ...do you leave them on the hive ... how can you clean them out ?

I met a new beekeeper (No bees at present) at the convention yesterday who has bought one ... or at least he has paid for one. He's only gone for a minimum package - wasn't altogether clear what he had 'bought' but as he had only just decided to keep bees on the back of the flow hive 'promises' and really didn't have a clue it was a bit of a waste of time talking to him about it ... I was speaking Beekeepese and he was speaking Flowhivese ... two very different languages.

I can foresee a few people like this appearing out of the woodwork in due course ...