[WWW]

This is a follow up on a thread I started yesterday, I received the weight scale in the mail today and quickly built a lever to give this thing a try. Well I discovered that I am not going to be extracting any time soon since the hives have just now attained winter weight, I will have to wait till after the fall flow to see if there will be any extra for me.

The lever and scale worked great, I was able to weigh each hive in a matter of seconds and this gave me insight to what was in the hive without the need for inspections, this 300 pound scale is just what I needed, it's a time saver. :thumbsup:

 

[Brandy]

Wow, that's some kind of winter if you need more than 3 deeps!! Good luck!

 

[sqkcrk]

What did they weigh and what did you expect?

 

[WWW]

Hi Brandy, the third deep is for spring buildup, I actually only need 2 deeps for winter here where I live. The hives are averaging between 120 to 150 pounds at this time which is winter weight, I was going to pull the third deeps and extract them this year but it doesn't look like that will happen unless we have a good fall flow, the current weight indicates that I only have 2 deeps of honey and the mediums on top haven't been drawn yet.

 

[WWW]

Mark, I was hoping that the third deeps had capped honey but the weight indicates that there is only 2 deeps of honey, the 6 hives ranged between 120 and 150 pounds each.

 

[Acebird]

You have less than two deeps of honey and I would think in your area you could winter on 100 pounds of honey pretty safely.

 

[Acebird]

This is a follow up on a thread I started yesterday,

A picture is worth a thousand words...
There is one modification you can do. If you make the angle clip stick out as far as your front entrance does you will not have to make any calculations or fiddle with the pivot point. Assuming the bottom board is supported right out to the front which it does not look like it is. You realize only using a 16 inch span of the block will make it tip over easier?

I am kinda wondering why your stand is so high.

 

[grozzie2]

I had a couple of double deeps weigh in just over 80 last fall, they made the winter, barely. This year I'm going to feed them up to between 100 and 110. I put the scale under one hive in April, it was 72 pounds at the time. I've since added 3 supers for a total of 40 pounds, and it weighs in at 155. You can see the daily (hourly) changes here:-

http://www.rozeware.com/hives

That chart is adjusted for the gear I add, so it's showing that the colony has gained just over 40 pounds since we started, not counting the 40 pounds of supers that went on. Hoping for some nice weather now while the blackberries bloom, so far they haven't put on any weight with the berries, weather has been cool and rainy

I like the way you've done that scale, may do something similar myself, easy way to get more accurate numbers on a bunch of colonies. The live scale hive gives me a good insight as to wether or not the rest even need to be checked, a quick and easy way to do the rest would be useful.

 

[sqkcrk]

Mark, I was hoping that the third deeps had capped honey but the weight indicates that there is only 2 deeps of honey, the 6 hives ranged between 120 and 150 pounds each.

It's only July 28 here. Seems like the should be plenty of time for your hives to gain weight before goldenrod. Basswood hasn't bloomed here yet. I don't think you should give up hope.

 

[WWW]

Mark, Yeah the hives are still bringing in nectar but until now I had no way to know how much gain or loss I was experiencing. I don't think we have Basswood in this area but I am sure there are other plants continuing to bloom, I seen a number of bees on Joe Pye weed today and the early Sumac is looking good. Thanks for the encouragement I will hope for the best.

 

[WWW]

Brian, Yes my blocks are getting really lopsided lately, they have been a concern for me since spring but I wasn't able to do much about the problem due to a vehicle accident that I was in, I received the short end of the stick on that one, it was a T-bone directly into my drivers door which left me missing work for 16 weeks while I healed up from a busted up shoulder, I will get those blocks fixed hopefully by next spring. I like the blocks up high like that because the hives were easier for me to work and the skunks left them alone but with going to a 3 deep brood chamber I will need to consider lowering the hives down to 1 block high and I might just do away with the blocks all together and build a more stable stand system.

I see what you mean about the modified hook, I will have plenty of time ahead to change designs as needed to suit my needs, thanks for all your input.

 

[WWW]

Brian, I forgot to mention that I realize that I have a bit less than 2 deeps of honey, I guess I could have worded my response a little better.

 

[WWW]

Grozzie, thanks for the link and I hope your hives pick up and do well. If you did build a weighing scale similar to mine you would not regret it, to inspect those hives would have taken me a number of hours but I was able to determine whether to extract or not in a matter of seconds with the scale. I purchased the scale new from Ebay for $19.95, one of my better investments.

 

[Tim KS]

It's only July 28 here. Seems like the should be plenty of time for your hives to gain weight before goldenrod. Basswood hasn't bloomed here yet. I don't think you should give up hope.

It's June 28th here.......I didn't realize that the time difference was that great between NY & KS.

EDIT...fixed it.

 

[Michael Palmer]

It's June 29th here.......I didn't realize that the time difference was that great between NY & KS.

Mark's working' too hard again.

 

[tomkat]

Michael where did you get the scale and how much did it cost.

 

[sqkcrk]

Mark's working' too hard again.

You guys a whack. My computer and my cell phone both say June 28. Who am I supposed to believe, you or my clocks?

It's not even July 4th yet, so basswood isn't blooming. Plenty of time between now and asters for a crop of honey to be made.

 

[sqkcrk]

Michael where did you get the scale and how much did it cost.

Michael? I though WWWs' name was Bill. I have been working too hard.

 

[WWW]

I purchased the scale new from Ebay for $19.95, one of my better investments.

Bill

 

[Bee Bliss]

What is the brand name of the scale? Thanks.