If you know what the poundage of honey you need on the hive is, you can simply multiply the number of full frames by poundage that frame will hold. For instance a deep frame fully drawn will hold about 6.5 pounds of honey. This is the method that works best for me.

 

Practice. I used to weigh hives regularly with a scale. I have not done this in years because of herniated discs but essentially heft 10 hives and weigh them after guessing their weight. Keep working then in the afternoon do it again with another 10 hives. Do this for a week and you get a pretty good feel after awhile. I did this a lot with the styrofoam 5 frame nucs. I was told 35 pounds more or less and certainly not more than 40 otherwise they would have condensation issues. In the fall when we would them we would heft them and guess their weight and decide how much feed should go in to achieve the target weight. With hives, I still think heavy is good, heavier is better. That feed gets turned into more bees at some point in the spring.

Jean-Marc

 

Kinda what Jean-Marc said. I just tip them and/or lift them and at the same time take a quick peak underneath to judge cluster size which is a pretty significant part of the equation. You eventually figure it out after doing it enough.....and starving a few.

 

Exactly. K.I.S.S. Keep it stupid simple. Or is that Keep it simple stupid.
We heft from the bottom and judge cluster size and weight. Eventually you get pretty well calibrated. For wintertime, I like think, if my fingertips ache-its got good weight.

A beekeeper from hood river imparted me some immortal words of wisdom a couple years ago, something to the likes of:

"Well Matt, you see either they are heavy, or they are light."

Pretty simple.

 

Well , weighing a few to get a handle on what they weigh tells no lies. Some boxes hefted seem lighter than others, yet they are the same

 

Some boxes hefted seem lighter than others, yet they are the same

At the start of the day, they are all light. Later in the day, they are all heavy. I believe I heard MP say that in one of his videos, and, it's true.

 

You could probably just use a fishing scale and hook the bottom edge of the hive. Once you get a baseline from some weighed hives you could be pretty accurate just buy lifting until the hive just starts tipping and use your converted target weight.

Jeff.

 

Anybody have a good idea what kind of hook would be used with a fishing/ game scale? I have the scale but have not found a useful hook. (My own hives are on Metro shelving bases which make it easy to weigh them but friends' colonies aren't. I'm at a loss on this.)

FWIW, although I am a small old lady, I can tip up the end of a hive that weighs 120-140 lbs, but when they get past about 175 lbs, it becomes a strain lift it - although I can still take the weight off a bit and scootch it along the stand, even with much heavier hives. I spent some time trying to work out a system based on how heavy they felt. I could never get anything consistent - that's why I bought a scale.

If the hives feels "light" to me (assuming it's a full sized hive, not a nuc), then for sure it's too light for winter, i.e below 100 pounds ; if it calls for a bit off effort but is still doable then it's somewhere in the 110-150 range, which is OK at the top end, but still too-light at the bottom end. If I can't budge it at all, it's more than heavy enough. The problem is that I need to discriminate the weight range right in the middle.

The digital game scale works very well, but unless your hives are like mine (on Metro shelves) you need something to grasp the hive with.

Enj.

 

Anybody have a good idea what kind of hook would be used with a fishing/ game scale?

I meant to add, if you can do it, put a screw into the bottom hive body so it sticks out just far enough that the hook that comes with the scale can just hook the screw.

I haven't done this so just speculating as to what might work. I don't think it will cause a problem with typical woodenware hives if the screw is a 3/4" long and screwed in almost all the way. It might be better to hook if you put in two screws, one on either corner and use a loop of wire/cord to hook both screws and capture that with the scale's hook.

Also, if lifting the weight is a problem at all, do this on the rear rather than the side, slightly better leverage so less weight actually lifted.

Jeff.

 

The difficulties in trying to weigh overwintering 10 frame boxes help strengthen the argument for overwintering nucs in a 5-over-5 or 4-over-4 configuration. Nuc boxes fit on a digital bathroom scale easily.

 

Mike Palmers method of using a simple bathroom scale is a one person method that is about as easy as it gets. Stand behind hive, tip to one side enough to slide a scale underneath then tip it back onto the scale and watch the reading as it reaches the balance point. It's a good way to learn the proper "feel" of a heavy hive.

 

Mike Palmers method of using a simple bathroom scale is a one person method that is about as easy as it gets.

Step on the fulcrum, no lifting. Now that I have some experience I can push my hip against the hive and tip it to get a feel. Hive boxes are stuck together by propolise and have never come apart by doing this. I don't care what the actual weight is I just need to know if there is enough or too light. When I harvest in the fall I leave at least a box and a half in the supers as a bare minimum.

http://i697.photobucket.com/albums/vv333/acebird1/Inspection 2011/Weighinghive001.jpg

Mike, how do you get the bathroom scale under the hive by yourself?

 

I use Cabela's game scale, the spring type, with a hive tool. I have a loop of garage door cable fastened to the hangy hole on the hive tool. The cable is then taped to the long side of the hive tool. Hook the loop over the hook on the game scale. The short side of the hive tool has just enough bend and length to hook the bottom board.

 

Some of you really like to overly complicate things. I have a $10 luggage scale with a built in hook. Walk to back of hive, hook and heft. Mental note of weight. Walk to front of hive, hook and heft. Add weight from back to front call it close enough. Feed if needed.

Picture hangers, fulcrums, etc... come on now. You don't need a 300 pound capacity scale unless you're weighing the whole ball of wax.

http://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Digi...e/dp/B00NW62PCA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445529255&sr=8-1&keywords=luggage+scale

 

Heck, if you need a hook, just use one of your ratchet straps. If you don't have a ratchet strap, you are beyond help ��

 

Heck, if you need a hook, just use one of your ratchet straps. If you don't have a racket strap, you Are beyond help ��

LOL thanks for the kick in the pants, I was looking for one the other day and couldn't find it.

 

@jwcarlson:

The weighing part is easy - the digital scale I already have it's the hook part I can't work out for my friends' hives without the Metro shelf under them like mine. What does the hook look like on the luggage scale - it seems to only go to 110 lbs, as well.

No one I know wants to start screwing things into their bases at the corners, nor in the middle etc. The relatively samll amount of wood down there will quickly fail if hives are heavy.

I've tried Dave Burrup's suggestion of using a hive tool - but my hive tools don't have enough bend, or too much I'm not sure which, and the hive base just slides right off the end of the tool.

Bases have one open (short) end and one with a lip on it on the bottom side. It's possible that most of the people around here are Betterbee customers so we are all using the thicker-dimension boxes they sell. The hooks I've found locally just barely can't slip around that lip. It's so frustrating.

I must be missing something! I wish I could solve this as I would really like to use my great scale in friends' yards.


ETA: @ JHearse: How do you picture the ratchet strap working as a hook? I can weigh small (one or two box) hives (small enough that I can stand over them) using a ratchet strap wrapped over it and lifting from above - but most hives up here are pretty tall - I know mine are nearly four feet tall and are up on a hive stand that's 18" high. I'm only 5'3" and I can't hoist heavy weights that are that tall from the top.
Enj.

 

The hooks I've found locally just barely can't slip around that lip. It's so frustrating

Enj.

clamp them in a vise and open them up

 

This one holds 200 pounds.
https://www.govart.com/hardware_mega_A.htm
Beecurious, the link I gave was a picture of an idea. The OP wanted an idea. I let people think for themselves.

 

Enjambres, can you show us a picture of the scale you have and how you plan on doing the lifting. Are you planing on lifting the whole hive?

 

@jbeshearse:

I must be calling the straps I use ratchet straps when they are no such thing, as there isn't a hook on either end. The non-apparatus end is simply plain web strapping (no hardware) and the business end with the opening-and-closing part with the cams might be "hookable" if you left it open but once it's cinched up I'm not sure where the hook would go, and there certainly is no proper hook on it anywhere.

I do use them on two-box hives where I can stand above them to do the lift, but anything taller than that is too tall for me to heave it up.

@ Acebird:

The digital game scale I use is came from Cabela's, it's this one:http://www.cabelas.com/product/cabela-s-330-lb-digital-scale/1842143.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dgame%252Bscale%26x%3D10%26y%3D6%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%252BProducts&Ntt=game+scale

I have modified it by buying a honking great carabineer for the top hole, big enough that I can insert my whole palm when lifting. The one that came with the tool allowed only a couple of fingers and it was very painful lifting 150 + lbs with just a few fingers crammed in there.

I use the supplied S hook when lifting my own hives because each of them is sitting on a short section of Metro shelving and the S hook readily slips into the shelving close to the hive.

I imagined (at first) it would be easy to find a replacement hook for use with hives that sit flat on their stand, but so far I haven't found one that can grab the underside of the base, reliably and safely. I've had more than one hive slide off the hook and plop back down. That really annoys the girls.

The one thing about this scale that I find especially useful is that the display stays displayed until you zero it out. That way I can concentrate on getting a good vertical lift on my very heavy hives and not be craning my neck trying to read the dial at the same time. I do the lift, and disengage and then I look to see what it reads. When I have a helper, she can read the number on the fly, but usually I work alone in my apiary. Do you still want to see a pic of it in use? I can try for one tomorrow.

Enj

 

but anything taller than that is too tall for me to heave it up.

I didn't know if you had a bucket loader to lift the whole hive. I can't see the link to the scale it would load.
Anyway if you are going to weigh the hive by hefting one side and then the other then get two of these picture hangers of sufficient load capacity and screw them into your bottom board so the two hangers line up with each other. Then you can put your S hook through both of them at the same time and there is no concern for the S hook to come out.

OK rader's link worked so if you have more than one hive close together you can lever off from the top of one hive to weigh the other with a long 2x4. Then you could check accuracy of weighing the each side method.

 

Ratchet straps

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/smartstraps-ratchet-strap-set-pack-of-6

 

Enjambres, your Cabelas scale link didn't work for me, and I suspect it may not work for others. But here is a link that seems to work to Cabelas 330 lb game scale:
http://www.cabelas.com/product/hunt...la-s-330-lb-digital-scale/1842143.uts?destination=/catalog/browse.cmd?N=1100182

 

This is the scale I use :thumbsup:

 

i just replaced my digital fishing scales (50 lbs. capacity) with this (110 lbs. capacity)

https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=2e87bec8-7b6a-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5

works great.

the handle is a 3' length of 1.125" dowel and the hook is off of a ratchet strap.

View attachment 21619

 

Hey Enj,
How about these?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mustad-Larg...K-REF-34081D-FREE-SHIPPING-/301637419377?hash=item463afdc171:g:L7MAAOSwZd1VWlRt

Or this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/6pcs-7731-1...g-Hooks-for-Big-Game-Shark-/161598633893?hash=item25a00777a5:g:gyYAAOSwZjJU3KVe

Bake a pie and have your husband put one of these in a vise and close the hook opening a little bit so the hook doesn't suddenly straighten out and stab you. Attach a strong wire or chain. Hook it up to your carabiner....love that word... and away you go.

I screwed an eye hook into the hive stand and attach a chain to that, hook it to my el cheapo 110 pound fish scale. That way I can have the digital read-out at eye level when I heft the hives.

 

I screwed an eye hook into the hive stand and attach a chain to that,

I am assuming the hive stand is not buried into the ground. A screw eye is good if you are not lifting a heavy hive. It all depends on what you are screwing the screw eye into.

 

I train myself by tilting and lifting and when feel light or have doubts check it out. It's a useful exercise and you gain an invaluable skill.

 

Yes, and the more you do it the better you get!

 

So many better options than drilling/screwing a bunch of possible failure points into your bottom board.

 

Right you are! That's why I screw my eye hooks into the 2x6 the bottom board sits on. Works like a champ.

 

Wow - so many good suggestions here.

Screwing anything into my hive bottoms (or for those f my friends) is not an option, but....

I will check of those ratchet straps, jbeshearse. Min are n ot at all like that but now I see what you mean about the hooks. I wonder what mine are?

Yes, thanks for improving the link, Rader Sidetrack and MichiganMike. That's exactly what I use and I think it's a wonderful tool.

And MichiganMike, thanks for the lead to the hook at Home Depot. I will check it out today, since you use it with the same scale (and presumably without the benefit of the Metro shelf I use below my colonies), I'm thinking it will do the trick.

And of course, there's pie. I can enlist my hubby and the bucket on the tractor at any time, as long as it it's here on the farm. But for weighing hives elsewhere...... well, it would take a lot of pie to get him to drive the tractor off the farm to visit my friends' apiaries to weight their bees. More pie than I could make in a lifetime, I imagine.

Enj.

 

I made this and it works, it is easy, repeatable, usable any place, nothing to screw in, making the lever as long as you want makes it usable by some one with any level of strength. only caveat in my experience is if the hive is visably off the vertical then weighing the upper edge gives light results because the mass is not centered. Not my invention but cheap, scale about 10-15 bucks, takes some handiwork and a trip to the hardware store but not really that difficult. Surprised no one has referenced it yet. I can not for the life of me imagine moving the entire hive onto a bathroom scale, those that do have strength and agility way beyond me.

http://www.beehacker.com/wp/?page_id=55

 

I made this and it works ....

http://www.beehacker.com/wp/?page_id=55

Quite ingenious! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

Oh joy, oh joy!

I finally found the Tornado 40 hook that Mike recommended (I had to go to four Home Depots before I found it in stock), And think it will do the trick in my friends' apiaries. Can't wait for the rain to end tomorrow to give it a try.

Thanks, Mike, for the tip!

Enj.