Scale

[Ricko]

I've always been interested in placing a scale under a hive and be able to chart major/minor honey flow for my area. Also to see if there is any correlation between weather reports of high pollen days etc.
Unfortunately, electronic scales (livestock) can be expensive. Looking through eBAY I noticed some digital postal bench scales, see
item #5502894410, which go up to 400#'s. Although the platform seems small, I think one could cut a piece of plywood to go on the platform which is the same size as a hive bottom. Would also cover with plastic for rain, etc. What do you think of the one I ran across? Has anyone found something in the less than $100 price range that might work out better? It's always been something that I thought would make keeping bees that much more interesting!

[MountainCamp]

I would be very concerned about put a hive onto a base that was smaller than the hive. I think that the hive would be unstable.

I do not know how much value a scale is on a day to day basis or even over a season.

The wieght of a hive will always be changing, hour to hour, day to day, and week to week, and not just because of the amount of honey in it.

The amount of pollen stored in a hive will be lower in the early spring and much higher in the fall.

The amount of brood will be higher in the spring and summer vs. the fall.

The wieght of uncured nectar will be higher in the evening, and lower in the early morning of the next day based on evaporation of water.

The water wieght in a hive will be higher on a hotter day, then a cooler one.

There are many varibles that don't relate directly to the amount (or percentage) of honey in a hives wieght.

To see how my hives are doing or the season is progressing, I look at how a hive is flying compared to the others. I look at the supers and see how they are filling up and how much activity is in the supers.

[John Russell]

I bought a scale at an auction last year that would work perfectly for what your describing. You need a old or antique standing platform scale. It has a 2.5 x 3.5 base, it stands 4 foot tall, and uses sliding rails and counter weights to show exact messure. Mine weighs up to 500 pounds.
Check out country auctions and antique dealers. They used to be standard issue for old country stores for weighing flour and oats, ect. I paid only 50 bucks for mine at auction, but I'll admit I feel like I stole it at that price.


J.R.

[Terri]

Four bathroom scales, with a square of wood between them to set the hive on? Add all four weights to get the weight of the hive.

[dcross]

I got an antique feed room scale at a farm auction for $7.50 this spring!

[Curry]

My wife through out our old bathroom scale, and it works perfect for weighing a hive. I keep all my hives on pallets. I put a hive on two 2x4's (on the pallet), and this happens to be the right height to slip the scale under the front of the hive (plus a thin piece of plywood on the scale). This measures exactly 1/2 of the total hive weight. I've watched it go from 22 pounds to 45 pounds (44 to 90).

And the price was right.

[dickm]

I took a spring scale I used to weigh deer with. (The kind that you hang up and then suspend the load from a hook). I mounted this on a 3' piece of pipe with a flat board for a base. from the scale hook I suspended a 3' piece of board with the attachment point 1' from the end.(I actually used an old ax handle). I hung a short piece of chain with a hook on it, from the short end of the board.
Put the hook under 1 end of the hive and push down on the lever until the hive moves up a little. The scale tells you 1/2 the weight of the hive. Purists will debate the accuracy of this system and I agree. But it works and the real use is to compare one hive with another. It was fun to build but in practice I didn't use it much.

dickm