Cold, Heat, Humidity

[vvand111]

Does anybody know of a heat and humidity monitor with wireless connection to monitor the conditions of the hive remotely??

[Mikey N.C.]

VV, don't know about monitors.
I found this pdf, don't know how to give you the direct link. It looks to be a good read(i haven't had time yet)  if you google usda the thermology of wintering honey bee colonies.
It was a 5yr. test in 1971 studying heat and cluster movement in hives in WI. It's about 40 pages.

[iddee]

Here is 0ne I found,

http://makezine.com/projects/bees-sensors-monitor-hive-health/

at this search.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Monitoring+hives&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

[vvand111]

Thanks Mikey & Iddee.

It took me most of yesterday to go through the info the two of you referred me to. I did not realize how much work is being done in this arena.

 

[cpekarek]

I just ordered some broodminder equipment. They have a scale, a temperature monitor and a temperature/humidity monitor. All operate on low signal bluetooth which connects to a phone app. I don't know how they work yet. I am trying the just the scales for now.

[Perry]

Be sure to let us know how this turns out and what you think of it.

Secondly, I see this was your first post to the forum.
We do 2 things here, talk about bees and have fun while doing it.

[efmesch]

I'll add my "Welcome" to that of Perry. It's nice to see that your first post is one with practical info---but even so, maybe you'd like to tell us something about yourself on an " introductions " thread. 

[cpekarek]

An update on the Broodminder equipment I ordered.

I installed their scales on 2 of my hives. The scales measure hive weight and outside temperature and humidity. Broodminder also sells sensors that go in the hive to measure temperature and humidity inside the brood boxes. To get data from the hive scale, I simply walk near them while holding my phone. An app on the phone downloads the scale readings. People who have broodminder equipment can choose to share their info on beekeeping.io
My 2 hives are on the site under the Citizen Science tab. My hives are 25 miles west of Chicago in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. If you click on my hives you will see one weighs 76 lbs. and the other weighs 126 lbs. I have only had the units in for 2 days so I will up date how well they perform.

58 days until spring!

[Perry]

This will be very interesting to watch!

[cpekarek]

Here's an update on one of the Broodminder scales I installed January 20, 2017. The hive weight was 76.0 lbs. The weight was pretty consistent until temperatures warmed up for a week - 60° to 70° F from February 17th -23rd.
Jan 20 - 76.0 lbs
Feb 17 - 75.4 lbs (cleansing flights, bees are breaking cluster, more active due to feeding)
Hive weight decreased steadily from Feb 17 to Feb 22
Feb 22 - 71.0 lbs
Feb 23 - 74.0 lbs (pollen coming in, brood developing)
Feb 24 - 74.6 lbs (pollen coming in heavy, brood developing)
Feb 26 - 77.8 lbs (very few bees leaving the hive due to temperatures below 50°F (weight gain due to developing larva?)
Hive weight decreasing steadily from Feb 26th to Mar 1st
Mar 1 - 69.6 lbs (weight loss due to increased feeding in the hive?)
I can see how a colony can starve in the spring. This hive lost 7.2 lbs in the past 3 days.

[Les]

This is so cool!  Goes to show Perry, sugar is cheap!

[Mikey N.C.]

Cpe, do ya know what weight loss are bees ?

[cpekarek]

I have no way of knowing how many bees are dying on a given day. Hive weight is dynamic and several things cause the weight to increase and decrease. I noted things that look to be significant when the weight changes are taking place. I do know that bees weigh 155 mg when they are capped so a 1 lb weight gain over 9 days could be a result of 3,000 new bees developing.

I like being able to see the weight changes. I have the scale set to take readings once per hour. I may change the setting to have readings every 15 minutes as bee activity increases. In theory, the readings will show exactly when the spring flow begins, how much nectar is brought in during the day and how much water is evaporated out of the nectar every evening. Heck, I guess it will even show if your hive swarms by showing a sudden weight change.

[LazyBkpr]

Holy heck thats cool! Might be expensive to do that with 100 hives though..  still, three or four might give a general idea of where things are at inside.

[efmesch]

CP, regarding the app that records the hive statistics----does it present them as simple numbers or does is give them to you in graph form (or both)?
It should be specially interesting to compare the numbers from your two hives---according to the books a stronger hive produces more honey when compared to another hive in the same location.  That statement is quite logical, but comparing the numbers and seeing just how much more productive should be a real eye opener.

[cpekarek]

The app on the phone shows the parameters in graph form. You have the option of viewing the phone graph by day, week, month or the entire time the scale has been installed. The app sends the info to beekeeping.io     Their website shows the readings on an interactive graph. It allows you to point to any data point on the graph and it gives you the time, hive weight, outdoor humidity and temperature. You can go on the beekeeping.io website and register for a free account to view samples of the graphed data.

 I did install a second scale but that hive died out a few weeks ago and I haven't had time to set up the 2nd scale on another hive yet.

The app can also email the raw data in the form of a .cvs file that contains the data in numerical form.

[Mikey N.C.]

Cpe, thats awesome.  Very interesting also it's a tool for honey in a flow,  love the idea of monitoring hive weight in the fall. Are ya using thermometer's in hive for temps. ?

[Mikey N.C.]

And also does the system allow you to monitor humidity in and outside of box ?
Thanks for bringing this topic up.  Im new to beekin so it's on my to do lists finding everything I can about feral and our hives. Just like (Robo) has done , i need as much info as i can get.
Thanks,
Mikey

[cpekarek]

I bought the broodminder scale. It measures hive weight and the outside temperature and humidity. The company also sells temperature and humidity sensor 'strips' you place inside the hive to monitor the temperature and humidity of the inside of the box. I didn't purchase the inside strips but I may get them for next winter.

[robo]

And also does the system allow you to monitor humidity in and outside of box ?
Thanks for bringing this topic up.  Im new to beekin so it's on my to do lists finding everything I can about feral and our hives. Just like (Robo) has done , i need as much info as i can get.
Thanks,
Mikey

As long as you are in range of wifi,  a Wemos Mini D and a DHT22 can be used for ~$10 a pop.   I have used DHT22 to monitor hive temperature/humidity with an Arduino that was hardwired.   Now with the lowcost ESP8266 it is ridiculously cheap and easy to do.

http://www.esp8266learning.com/wemos-mini-dht-pro-example.php

[Mikey N.C.]

Not trying to high jack ,  Robo would love to ask Q about poly foam hive body's ( what thicknesses and if ya use plywood or luan?  In the foam box ? And what R- rating on foam,  i have a wide range as to what i can use ?
Would love some info. on this as im considering this in n.c. ) and want to experiment using this technology if possible here.
Thanks
Mikey

[robo]

Not trying to high jack ,  Robo would love to ask Q about poly foam hive body's ( what thicknesses and if ya use plywood or luan?  In the foam box ? And what R- rating on foam,  i have a wide range as to what i can use ?
Would love some info. on this as im considering this in n.c. ) and want to experiment using this technology if possible here.
Thanks
Mikey

Here you go Mickey,  hopefully this will help get you started -> http://www.worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/index.php/topic,6688.0.html