[WWW]

I just purchased a 300 pound hanging game scale to weigh my hives by lifting them with a lever from the back side and then doubling the recorded weight and was curious as to the accuracy of this method but I am assuming it will be close enough for what I need, this is the only way I have of weighing these hives due to their size.

I would appreciate any input on this subject, I have been hefting the back sides but want to start charting the progress of the hives and the honey flows in a more accurate manor.

 

[AR Beekeeper]

I have weighed the entire hive and the same hive from the rear and doubled the weight. Both weights were within 1 or 2 pounds of each other. You will have more variation due to differing weights of boxes and empty frames than from the two methods of weighing the hives.

 

[mathesonequip]

go from the middle of the 2 sides and add the 2 numbers together. you will be real close. going front and back the usual front landing pad will mess you up.

 

[Michael Bush]

If you weight the front and the back and added them together you'd be very close...

I figure for feeding purposes it's a decent estimate. But there are things that can skew the results. One of these is when the bottom board is stuck to the stand...

 

[WWW]

Thanks for the input guys, Lifting the hives from the front or the sides isn't going to work for me, I am happy to hear that a backside measurement doubled will work because this is that only place I can easily get a hook under the bottom board. Again thanks very much for taking the time to respond..

 

[Acebird]

Your accuracy will increase if the hives are level to begin with and they are not struggling hives. A tall hive or a top heavy hive will give you more variation. If you are trying to track relative weight gain in a flow you should be happy with the results. If you are putting the hive to bed for the winter I would weigh both sides to be sure.

Edit: Weighing technique,
As Michael suggested if the bottom board is stuck to the stand it will give a bad reading. You should pry the hive up off the stand a quarter of an inch scinch up the scale and then let the hive down on the scale to register the weight.

 

[WWW]

Yes Michael's suggestion about the bottom board sticking is sound advice however my hives are sitting on concrete blocks so this is not an issue for me.

Weighing both sides is not possible for me as I only have back access to hook the bottom board.

I do have tall hives consisting of 3 deep brood boxes plus up to 3 supers so tipping the hive too far can skew the results somewhat but I won't be lifting them more than about an inch which shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks again for all the input....

 

[Acebird]

You really shouldn't lift them that high with a tall hive. 1/8 to 1/4 is more than enough. If you want more accuracy you can put a half inch dowel under the bottom board at the point of the edge of the hive. That will eliminate the entrance extension.

 

[Acebird]

I did a calculation to come up with a fudge factor based on a hive that was 20 in back to front and a 2 inch extension on the bottom board. I admit that I am a little rusty on beam calculations so maybe one of you young wippersnapers can check me out but I came up with 1.834. So if you just weighed the back of the hive and let it pivot on the front of the bottom board you should multiply that weight by 1.834 to get the total weight of the hive.

 

[WWW]

Thanks Ace, I will need to see how this all pans out for me when I start weighing, you are correct in that 1/8" or 1/4" is probably more than enough lift, 1" is the highest lift I would be comfortable with.

Thanks for the dowel advice for under the entrance I will keep it in mind if I do decide to weigh front and back however for now I will just be lifting the back side.

I am looking forward to actually knowing the weight of these hives, this is another tool to help give me insight to what is happening with the hives, it will help me to make better decisions.

 

[WWW]

The method of doubling the weight recorded in the back that AR Beekeeper referred to would work just fine for me, he stated that in his experience it was within 1 or 2 pounds of a comparative weighing of an entire hive, however I will need to give that multiplier of yours a whirl as well, thanks.