Weighing Boxes- Not Hives- And My Old Truck

Yet another weighing machine below.... even after completing the final version of the fancier one- which  Beekhacker, Tom Rearick, kindly published on his awesome website, here.  He even linked the PDF drawings i made - should anyone every decide it's worth making. His website is awesome- full of great information and insight- and his device was the essential inspiration for mine. I saw his, and over the course of a year- or was it two or three?- designed mine. Same concept- his idea. I just did it in a different way.

Rather than republishing that here (maybe later, as i have some thoughts on some improvements), I thought I'd share yet another weighing machine- one that is way cheaper, and I am now carrying it in my bee-tool bag. Its also long in the hatching- lots of drawings- but its all the process- draw and draw- and then, it comes to making it, as drawing can only go so far.

It won't weigh a hive- but it will nicely weigh a hive body. So when I am inspecting a hive, and trying to assess how each super is doing and what it is doing, I pull it off, set it down, and use this tool to weigh it. Its quick, and accurate, and fairly unbreakable. 

My lovely, ill cared for, F150. Makes me happy. Have owned it for 20 years. My other car was a split window '65 VW bus, and this is way better. It came from Montana, from a guy in a silk shirt who worked for the EPA. He had been shot at, and it still has the bullet hole (just down from the middle gas tank cap). I have been spray painting it with Home Depot paint to try to make it acceptable living. Where I live- the heart of Microsoft, this is like a Model T. No one- except total losers, drive trucks with Rust On Them. All trucks have grills on them, like Roll's Royces, and where once, this was a big truck, it now would fit in the glove box of a Real Truck.  Long caption, sorry, lots of  feelings.

I think that getting the Gestalt of a hive is where its at. Is that too big a word? I walk up to hive, and it might be 8 supers high- but 3 supers might be empty- by looking, I have no idea. But honey weighs  lot- and pollen does too- but bees, and brood, don't weigh much. So knowing if a super (I use only Westerns), weights 50 pounds, or 20- means quite a bit. You can do this by feel- maybe that's better- but for a hobby guy like me- it somehow seems like real info. Not the hive weight- but the super/hive body weight. Its like knowing the structure of a hive- where they are putting stuff. 

It has 6 parts- and maybe costs $20 to build. It has a Target luggage scale- one that goes to 50 pounds. It has a nice handle on it, and a big hook. I think it cost 14 bucks.

Then I have one length of chain- simple stuff- maybe 4 feet. But this could be anything- though chain is nice as it doesn't tangle, and is strong. But it could be rope. I guess. 

And two very small caribiners. Not essential- but helpful.

And finally- the only thing that one has to shape- two pieces of thin steel. I used a 65 cent Simpson connector plate, and bent it with a vee on the bottom, and a few other bends ( see picture below- I am not sure which ones are essential- I tried different shapes, this worked). And I drilled a hole big enough for the caribiner to fit smack in the center of the top. 

The idea is that this hooks perfectly into a handle hole. Some of my hives are handbuilt, and have attached handles, and it works on them too. If not handles- then it hooks on the bottom. You hook in one end, then the other, and you pick it up. Read. Done. Write it down. Do your inspection on the next super and weigh it too. At the end- when you are done- you have a hive picture. An understanding. Not profound- just a general feel of that the heck is happening. 

Here is are some pictures:

Holding the scale- a luggage scale, any kind would work, hooked to the center of a chain, and at the end, the hook plates.

 Here is a hook plate- its less than the width of a handle- and its a metal construction plate- from a hardware store. Angle has to be acute, so when you lift it does'nt bend back. I don't know about the other bends- I made these so they push the hook flat to the super- but other shapes would work too. Be sure that they are close to the same- make two. 

Here are the two together, one is just made out of a piece of steel I had. It has to be thick enough not to bend under weight- but you're not picking up a whole hive. You can see the caribiners here- though you could just open the chain and hook that up directly. It has to be symmetrical- that is important.

A picture- holding the camera with one hand- the scale with the other- and picking up the super. You want it so you don't have to lift too high- and when you start piling up supers- you have to lift higher and higher. So I think this chain is too long. Maybe 2 feet would be ok.