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It's been half a year now during which I tried to avoid spamming you with technical updates (I figured you could subscribe to my blog if you wanted more details), but I've finally installed the...

Vance,

As you said, "don't let it get that bad." Observation hives take some maintenance and part of that is cleaning burr comb and propolis off the glass necessary. If they're building a...

Fishman, you're absolutely right as I want to get as much exposure as possible so I can benefit from people who have great advice or have done similar projects that I can learn or copy from in some...

I have around 6 months of experience with the Arduino Uno and Fio. That's not a lot, but my background in optics and engineering means I do a significant amount of low-level mathematical programming...

Yeah, high resolution mapping of temperature is primarily just over-collecting data for science. Temperature is relatively cheap and easy to collect (once you're getting weight) but I hesitate to...

You'll certainly save quite a bit by making master and slave units, and I don't think distance should be too much a problem in typical apiaries. The scale I have can only communicate at up to 9600...

TooFarGone, that's great advice. The charge controller is on my radar since even with lower wattage panels the batteries can be stressed by overcharging. I'm still holding off on fully speccing the...

mmmooretx,

I've made some significant, although not particularly noteworthy progress lately. I've got the electronics working inside the scale itself, and the system transmitting data every...

Add a high temperature shut-off to keep the mailer from going up in flames when the dimmer switch gets bumped.

Thanks for sharing -- I'll have to look into Flexwatt heat tape!

Yes, 1 3/4" is interior to interior including the frame width. If possible, it would be best to include some adjustable shims to allow small variation in the glass position. You'll be adding...

The mice will also be totally safe from cats in the bee hive. They'll be totally safe and warm any day cold enough to drive the bees into a cluster.

Last year, I put my mouse guards on too late,...

Man, if giving internet access to bee hives gets popular, Pinterest is going to EXPLODE!

More seriously, you should note that while red light will bother the bees less, you probably want to be...

I've been hoping to get an observation hive at some point. The precision required is above what I'm going to be able to accomplish on a first try, but I'm sure my third observation hive will be...

My mildly curious (i.e. unprofessional) sense is that while it's fascinating that scientists have documented chemical reactions triggered by cell phone radiation, it's not something to be overly...

Well said Jetjockey.

when a cell phone is transmitting continuously on high power, it can subtly warm biological tissue -- but that's the worst that's been shown to date and that's much higher...

I've been rather pleased with my jacket from Mann Lake ( http://www.mannlakeltd.com/beekeeping-supplies/page110.html ). It's thick enough that I'm very rarely stung through the jacket (maybe once...

My parents have some hives near a swamp too, and they don't get a lot of honey either. They don't get zero, just not much more than a super per hive.

If there's too little food in the area, I'd...

You've already resigned yourself to getting stung. You know it isn't that bad, and that you'll only get stung once per bee (so slapping at it won't help unless there's two in your pants and you...

Acebird, blood vessels don't close up instantly, although they usually don't leak much. If needles had flat tips, even the small ones would routinely rip vessels and draw blood, but the high angle...

Sorry for all the long posts. I know that makes it harder to follow quickly, but there's so many details that are so critical, I figure it's better to get it out there on the off chance that...

I saw some references to the EU logging system, but I figured it'd be much more expensive than "only" $1k. It looks like the parts for my prototype (minus bee counter) will come to around $600, so...

I've always hoped to join the NASA HoneyBeeNet program that relies on volunteer submission of daily hive weight to track nectar flow at dozens of sites across the country. ...

Yep, she just hit a blood vessel. Actually, I think it's more likely that you ripped a blood vessel tearing out the stinger, but it's a bit of a moot point.

If old time beekeepers were irreplaceable, they'd all have died off long ago...

Oh come now, the reason priority mail is cheaper than express is that express mail is guaranteed as you noted. If there's more packages in one spot than room on regularly scheduled trucks, the...