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Author Topic: Combination Scale/hive base ?  (Read 2003 times)

Offline Maryland Beekeeper

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Combination Scale/hive base ?
« on: October 31, 2012, 11:33:06 am »
B's have been huddled up for two days now w/ Sandy rolling thru. Be interesting to see how much honey they consumed. Be interesting to track the weight throughout the year I think. Anyone have they're hives on scales ?
Cheers,
Drew

Offline Finski

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Re: Combination Scale/hive base ?
« Reply #1 on: October 31, 2012, 01:23:57 pm »
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I have had 3 years a hive on balance.

There is no idea to keep hive on winter and look what happens. There are too many changing factors outside that the results, what you get are very primitive. Yes, they consume food during winter. Odd, isn't it?

Another question is that it is only one hive. If you make a real reseach, you need 20 hives and at least 3 years period.

But of course, a balance teaches huge things.

For example hive was quite full honey and bees start to cluster on out wall. Then I took capped honey offand I gov 3 empty boxes.
when cluster in, bees foraged 3,5 kg/day raspberry honey. When they got enough free room, the day input was 7 kg.

Last spring I have the balance on autumn canola. It was sunny days, wind and day temp 15-18C. Bees flayed. They got during one week 3 kg more weight into the hive. Part was pollen. Then it come +23C day. They got more weight 4,5 kg in one day. When I looked closely the flight of bees, I saw that they come to Hume with empty load. It was windy and 18C temp. It cooled the foragers so that they could not harvest the canola.

I have found before too that wind is bad to foraging, but I did not knew that it was so bad. - What I can do.... I can situate hives in calm pastures where wind is not so harmfull like on vast fields.

My hives consume food 20 kg during 9 months winter.  It does not come better even if I weight them.

We have in Finland a network of balance hives. But I can learn only from my own hives. I have found that the pastures rules the amount of yield.

After 50 years experience choosing pastures in each year is the most difficult thing. It surprises every year.
To trust on  one yield plant is a risk. Canola does not give every year yield, and I try to find combinations like .

If bees must forage over 1 km, the half of yield will be lost. 2 km, and you get perhaps nothing.

If you keep your bees in one place, you will never know what means differences of pastures.

One pasture site may be good 2-3 years. Then 100 kg/hive yield may drop to 20 kg/hive.

That I have tried to  learn  last 10-15 years.


And my opinion is that if some method does not bring honey to the hive, I let it be. I do not mind to try everything which guys offer to me.

I use too much time however with my bees and I let my family be where ever.  Top bars, natural combs and what ever is just waste ow time. Bees have done their combs without human hundreds of years. I cannot see any luxury in that idea that return to caves and lets be happy!


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Offline BlueBee

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Re: Combination Scale/hive base ?
« Reply #2 on: October 31, 2012, 02:00:19 pm »
Some good information there from Finski.

An electronic hive scale is on my to do list.  Rather I’ll ever get it done is questionable; just have too many other projects going on at present.  My plan is to use a couple 10 to 20lbs load cells from ebay (about $20) and a mechanical lever arm (10:1) to boost the measuring range up to about 400lbs.  If you’ve ever taken apart a bathroom scale, you’ll know the kind of mechanical lever arms I’m talking about.  

The signal output from load cells is very small (millivolts) so you need to a good low noise amp, power supply, and wiring.  I looked all this up last winter but don’t recall the exact amp part number I liked.  I think it was an Analog Devices chip.  You can get a whole amp all integrated and setup for a load cell anymore, which looks to make the task a whole lot easier than in the past.  Fixed gains and thermal compensation.

There are some other issues to worry about too, like creep and recalibration of a load cell.  I believe this is more of a issue with the very low cost flimsy load cells they sell with bathroom scales as opposed to the beefier ones on AL bars sold on ebay, but I don’t have much real experience with them at this point.

Offline Maryland Beekeeper

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Re: Combination Scale/hive base ?
« Reply #3 on: October 31, 2012, 02:38:49 pm »
I was just thinking of getting 4 cheap Wal-mart scales one for each corner  :) I suppose the future is a fully wired hive downloading all the vitals to your smartphone in real time  :) I wouldn't mind having  cameras in there. Next time I go for a colonoscopy I'll ask how much one of those cameras is. Be able to check the hive without opening it. Arthroscopic beekeeping  :)
Drew

Offline Finski

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Re: Combination Scale/hive base ?
« Reply #4 on: October 31, 2012, 03:50:06 pm »
I suppose the future is a fully wired hive downloading all the vitals to your smartphone in real time  :)

Sure, I destoyed allready one smartphone when I handled it with propolis hands.

It is waste of time if satellite must find to you your hives.

I know one frurious real time guy.
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Offline Maryland Beekeeper

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Re: Combination Scale/hive base ?
« Reply #5 on: October 31, 2012, 04:31:33 pm »
If God forbid we loose the Honeybee, might need to replace w/ small robot B's. Hive becomes re-charging and programing station  :)
Gonna be a long winter :)
Drew

Offline Finski

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Re: Combination Scale/hive base ?
« Reply #6 on: October 31, 2012, 05:43:27 pm »

Actually I tired to read hive balance. I brought it to outer pastures, and driving car back and forth was 20 km. Too expencive.
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Offline Maryland Beekeeper

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Re: Combination Scale/hive base ?
« Reply #7 on: October 31, 2012, 05:52:14 pm »
I am thankful my hives are a few steps out my back door. \
Drew