How To Install Cheap(ish) Temperature and Humidity Sensors Into Hives- And Graph Them To The Net

I've tried a number of different ways of doing this over the years, primarily with trying to incorporate a microcontroller (Arduino) with sensors and wire them back to a computer to record hourly readings- but in the end, I found the readings inaccurate, and the learning curve high- and a ton of hours down a rabbit hole, for naught (except for the experience of learning to write in code- not that helpful now).

Since that time, there are plenty of sensors available commercially, that feed back to one's Smartphone, and tell you what's happening in your hive, even if you are vacationing say, in Hawaii.

Since I neither vacation in Hawaii, or have a Smartphone (or- I daresay- ever will considering the way they've pretty much destroyed the world), and- because I don't have a huge budget to purchase the latest tech- I ended up doing this in an old school way. "Old school" being wireless RF sensors.

I started last year doing this, and it works pretty well. One has to manually write down the values daily, but that takes only a minute. But in incorporating this data into Google docs, and then "publishing it to the web". I found that I could easily make, and share, a continually updated graph of what's happening in some typical hives- and with very little effort. I'll describe how I do it, though I am sure there are better and more sophisticated ways.

Here  are the graphs I have made in the past few months.

What I used  was a central readout console, with up to 8 accurate thermo-hydrometer sensors, that all feed back minute by minute information to the console. They record 24 hour highs and lows for both temp and RH, but do not record it beyond that. A console and 4 sensors can be purchased for about 60 bucks or so, and one can purchase more sensors, up to 8 total, for another 10 bucks or so per sensor.

I think a few companies make these, but I used the Ambient WS-08 console with its accompanying sensors.

This console sits on my work desk. It cycles through the sensors in its range, and reports back. Above shows sensor #1, and it can read up to eight. It has a range of up to 100 feet- and works well if one's hives are near one's house- but it could also be put into an out-apiary.

Ambient also makes remote sensor systems, to talk back to one's Smartphone- but I do not know how well they work, and they are considerably more expensive.

Below are 4 sensors and the console. I also make fiberglass mesh enclosures for the sensors (stapled together), as the bees tend to fill up all the holes. Hardware cloth does NOT work- it cuts off the RF signal.

I then install the sensors at the top of the hive. They are about 3/8" thick- and I don't know how well they would fit between hive bodies- there has to be some room. Possibly, two frames could be parted enough to fit one in- I haven't tried. For me- I have an open space during the cold months, as below, and I just set the sensors in a corner where I don't think the bees will cluster (if they do, the sensor will read warm). Here is a recent install: 

That's all I need to do hardware wise.

To publish to the web, I use a Google Docs spreadheet, that looks (in part) like this:

I have different colored columns for each sensor,

Then, just as one would with Excel, I make charts, selecting different columns and information, depending on what graph I want. It takes awhile to learn how to get it in a format that looks OK, but eventually it works.

I put each chart on a separate tab in the worksheet.

Then it gets cool- it turns out that under "FILE" you can "publish" each chart- or all of them at once. You select this option, and it gives you a link which you can then install on a website, or in a blog, or anywhere. I installed on a blank web page on my own website, but it could be anything.  What's cool is that this is all you need to do- whenever I add data, of if I revise anything in the spreadsheet, it automatically updates the published graph. I don't do anything- it just does it! 

Its been very interesting-I've been graphing for 3 months (through winter) to better understand how different wraps and insulation affect hives in the PNW. So far- and anyone can look at the data- I see very little correspondence.  Wrap a hive, insulate it, or leave it bare- it doesn't seem to do a dang thing to the interior ambient temperature in these hives. 

Why would this be so? I think that this is because my hives have quilt boxes on them, which provide a considerable amount of air changes (more than I would have thought). There is not really the opportunity for a significant "heat bubble" to form, even in a well insulated hive- there's too much air change, and not enough heat generation from the bees. Apparently, they like it this way, as the certainly have the ability to increase the temperature if they needed to.

More experiments on the way.