A ground-breaking start-up from Byron Bay in NSW, Flow Hive, has developed a technology that delivers honey on tap – directly from a beehive – without the need to crack open the hive.
It’s an invention that has literally changed forever the way honey is collected – and is now being used all over the world.
“We are so happy to say that now you can harvest the honey with virtually no disturbance to the bees. It’s a dream come true for us,” says Flow Hive founder Cedar Anderson.
“After a decade of work, it’s been so exciting to be finally bringing our invention to the world, and now to be able to offer a more affordable, Australian-made version to Australian customers only is the icing on the honey cake.”
What is the story behind Flow Hive?
A love for the bees and the natural world has always been an important part of the lives of the father-son inventing team behind the idea, Stuart and Cedar Anderson.
“It’s hard to think of a more rewarding hobby than beekeeping. Bees are just such fascinating little creatures. They play such a key role in our food supply and they bring in an abundance of delicious honey,” says Cedar.
“However, extracting the honey from the hive used to be a real drag. You’d have to suit up (usually on a stinking hot day), smoke the bees, crack the hive open, lift out the frames, sweep off the bees, transport the frames to your honey shed (or laundry), uncap each frame with a hot knife, stick the frames in a centrifuge, spin out the honey, filter out the wax and bee bits, fill your jars, take the empty frames back to the hive, open the hive again to put them back in, then clean everything up. Phew!
“It was hot, sticky, heavy work, involving shared equipment and lots of squashed bees. Not anymore!”
That goal was reached within minutes of the campaign going live.
Within 15 minutes, the campaign had attracted US$250,000 in pre-orders and was soon breaking Indiegogo’s website and a slew of crowdfunding records.
Flow Hive, which has taken the world by storm, was also awarded the prestigious top prize at the Good Design Awards a few weeks ago. The Good Design Awards – which date back to the 1950s – have an enviable record of unearthing globally recognised talent and products. Last year, the Tesla Model S won the overall top prize.
