If you’re considering a career in beekeeping, get the right beehive. The search for a perfect beehive can turn out challenging, especially if you have no idea of which beehive type, brand or style to consider. Today, we are going to review two popular types of beehives: Flow Hive vs Langstroth, outlining the standout features and how they differ.
Flow Hive vs Langstroth
| BeeHive Name | Foundation Material | Frame count | Accessories | Standout Features |
| Flow Bee Hive | Plastic/wax | Supports 6 to 8 foundationless frames | Ant guards/ entrance reducer, | High-quality food-grade plastic construction
Plastic queen excluder 6 to 8 frames made of solid plastic material |
| Langstroth | Wood: cypress, pinewood, fir, spruce, cedar | Supports 8 or 10 frames | Stand/Entrance reducer/queen excluder | Well-designed boxes with 8 to 10 brood and honey frames
Vertically hung frames Durable and well-fitting top cap and inner cover Bottom board with bee entrance |
What are Flow Hives
Flow Hives are advanced beehives with a contemporary, ingenious design designed by a father and son, Stuart and Cedar Anderson. The award-winning company was founded in 2015 and has customers in over 130 countries.
This technology provides a way to harvest honey without disturbing the bees, making honey harvesting easier for the beekeeper.
These beehives allow beekeepers to harvest honey from the hive without using honey extractors. Flow Hives come with six flow frames, each with its trough at the bottom, essential for holding the honey tube when harvesting honey.
How do Flow Hives Work
These beehives have foundations, frames, and wooden boxes. The Flow Supers hold an artificial foundation created of BPS and BPA-free food-grade plastic and special Flow frames. Its super features an opening through which you can collect honey and observation windows.
The beehive has a Flow key that, when rotated 90 degrees downwards, allows easy honey collection. After harvesting your honey, you can turn back the Flow key upwards to realign the cells.
The brood box in the Flow Hive is the same as that in the Langstroth, so it needs regular inspections and care. Flow Hives come in several options, including Flow hybrid, Flow hive 2, Flow hive 2+, and Flow hive classic.
Core Features of Flow Hive
- Shingled roof with pre-glued roof sections to optimize protection from elements
- Double side observation windows that allow for effortless viewing of the bees
- High-quality and durable brass fixtures
- Six Flow frames and Flow tubes to ease honey harvesting
- Inner covers featuring central hole for feeding bees
- Brood box with eight brood frames
- Adjustable harvesting shelf to ease honey harvesting
- A multi functional tray that effortlessly slides into the Flow hive base
- Flow key that eases opening and closing of the beehive cells
- Ventilation system that allows easy adjusting of airflow
The Flow Hives are great in terms of design, durability, appearance, and ease of assembly. However, there are certain things customers don’t like about the Flow of beehives. One of the features customers feel the manufacturer could have enhanced is the plastic design.
Customers feel that the plastic construction is not natural and durable enough. In addition, customers say that the ingenious design of these beehives makes it possible for you to over-harvest honey.
Pros of Flow Hives
- Solid construction and durable structure
- Fun and easy to harvest honey
- Easy to use beehive, perfect for veteran and beginner beekeepers
- Assembling the beehive is quick and easy
- Side observation windows to ease viewing of bees and honey
Cons of Flow Hives
- Off-gassing caused by the plastic construction
- The price is a bit higher
- Risk of over harvesting honey
What is a Langstroth Beehive
Langstroth beehives are modular beehives with vertically hung frames, brood and honey boxes, bottom boards with bee entrances, top cap, and inner cover, and boxes on the top for storing honey. With these beehives, bees build their honeycombs into the frames.
The bottom boards in Langstroth beehives are screened or solid and have bases that can stand firm on any solid foundation. In addition, these beehives have entrance reducers to ease varying the entrance sizes.
Discovered by Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth, Langstroth beehives come in three different sizes: deep, shallow, and medium. These beehives have eight or ten wooden frames with already installed foundation or foundation-less constructions. Langstroth beehives are rectangular and feature a brood chamber, queen excluder, removable frames, and a super honey box.
Langstroth beehives have inner covers installed over the uppermost box, featuring a small gap suitable for the entrance and exit of bees. With this type of beehive, you’ll also get a telescoping top cover that prevents water from dripping into the gaps at the top area of the hive.
Some Langstroth beehives come with stable stands with frame holders. Most of the Langstroth beehives come with queen excluders and entrance reducers.
Core Features of Langstroth Beehive
- Well-designed and premium-quality 8 or 10 frames with foundation-less or foundation constructions
- Easy to assemble and handle designs
- Three different box depths, including shallow, deep, and medium
- Made from a variety of materials, depending on the product type
- Multiple highly functional and user-friendly accessories
Pros of Langstroth Beehive
- Available from a variety of suppliers and beekeeping equipment manufacturers
- Allows for easy addition of boxes to optimize your honey yield
- The boxes are easily interchangeable since they come with consistent sizes
- There are dozens of honey extraction options
- The frames allow for easy transfer of food stores, comb, and brood
Cons of Langstroth Beehive
- The boxes are pretty heavy
- The foundation may have contaminated elements
- Inspecting the boxes is a bit challenging
Conclusion: Which to Choose-Flow Hive vs Langstroth
Langstroth beehives are the most popular beehive today. They are highly preferred because of their high honey holding capacities and the capability of the boxes being interchanged. These beehives come in various sizes and are available from a variety of trusted suppliers throughout the world.
Besides, Langstroth beehives are much more affordable and come in a variety of durable constructions. However, they are only perfect for professional and experienced beehive keepers because of their heavy boxes and complex designs.
Flow Hives are less popular types of beehives that use the latest designs and constructions to offer the best honey harvesting solution. These beehives come in several sizes and styles to match the unique requirements of each customer.
Besides, Flow Hives allows for easy and fun honey harvesting, a feature you won’t get with the Langstroth beehives. They also have windows for inspecting the bees and checking when the honey is ready for harvesting.
Decide which of the beehives matches your beekeeping needs. Check the features and accessories of each of the beehives to know which one suits your unique needs.