Beehive scales

It is of interest to both migrant beekeepers and apiarists to know how the honey flow is progressing in each hive. With the advent of modern technology in beekeeping, hive scales have proven to be a practical means of remotely monitoring the weight gain and loss of hives over time.

Since the prices for professional beehive scales are in the upper three-digit range, but it is also desirable to monitor several hives at the same time, the scales have not yet been able to establish themselves on a broad scale.

The motivation for this project was therefore to develop a simple model of a beehive scale that can also be built by hobby beekeepers from inexpensive, readily available parts and is hardly inferior to professional devices in terms of functionality, stability, weather resistance, etc.

Realization

The weight of the beehive is determined using four measuring points, each with a load cell.

A load cell usually works with strain gauges, which have a variable resistance depending on the load. This change in resistance is converted into an analog measurement signal and then into a digital signal via a 24-bit analog-to-digital converter.

Radio link

Data is recorded via an Arduino® Uno, a physical computing platform consisting of software and hardware. An XBEE shield with an XBEE radio module is plugged onto the Arduino®.

The Arduino® uses this to send the measurement data to the receiver, a Raspberry Pi™, a miniature computer based on Linux. The transmission range with this method is up to 1500 m.

Internet - Cloud - Smartphone

The Raspberry Pi™ establishes a connection to the internet via Wi-Fi or cable. It sends the data to the cloud, in this case specifically to the InternetOfThings platform ThingSpeak.

This platform is able to collect and analyze data in private channels and make these analysis results/data/graphics available in public channels worldwide via an app on smartphones, tablets and PCs.

Sounds interesting?

If you are interested in our beehive scale, you can find instructions for building it right here below, with a list of the components used, where to buy them, etc.

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