Tag: outdoor scale

Beehive scales: List of commercial and open source projects in Europe

Making an electronic hive scale can be harder than you think

Hive scales for use by beekeepers are a niche market; moreover, they must meet a number of special requirements, such as:

  • Must withstand long-term outdoor use (protection against rain, moisture/dust, very low and high temperatures, possibly theft/vandalism, wild animals etc.).
  • Must weigh accurately under challenging conditions (temperature fluctuations, vibrations caused by wind).
  • Must support a heavy load over a long period of time while still registering small weight changes.
  • Must be able to transmit weight data (often over long distances).
  • Must have low power consumption (for off-grid installations).

It is therefore unsurprising that no major scale manufacturer offers a hive scale and that commercially available scales from specialized manufacturers can be quite expensive.

List of hive scales available in Europe

The following list contains all beehive scales available in Europe that we currently know of (both commercial and open source / DIY projects). Websites with descriptions in English and with recent updates were highlighted:

We would be happy to receive links to other products and projects in the comments.