Weighing in the service of hive health

HoneyInstrument connected scale instrumentation

To help beekeepers monitor the health of their bees - without compromising honey production - HoneyInstrument has developed a highly accurate yet very robust beehive scale based on HBM-branded weighing technologies and sensors.

During the development process of this concept, Thierry De Vresse, director of HoneyInstruments, quickly identified that this scale should be extremely solid, very easy to use, resistant to bad weather while remaining within a reasonable budget.

The connected scale gives, hour by hour, the variations in the weight of the hive which are a perfect source of information and easy to decipher for beekeepers who are thus able to estimate the number of bees leaving the hive or the reserves. precise winter honey. The connected beehive scale shows the hive weight variations from hour to hour, which helps beekeepers monitor the number of bees coming out or make an accurate estimate of the winter honey supply. To assess the weight of the hive with precision, HoneyInstrument opted for the PW10 weighing cell from HBM, which stood out with characteristics perfectly suited to the project.

The PW10 sensor can measure a weight of up to 300 kg with an accuracy of 20 grams, it has minimal power consumption and is known to be completely reliable. The sensor works outdoors and easily withstands the harsh winters and hot summers to which beehives can be subjected. With a precision of 20 grams we can estimate the entry or exit of about 200 bees. A beehive has more than 50,000.

“I was already familiar with HBM sensors, having integrated them into other products,” says Thierry De Vreese. Discussions with the technical sales team quickly convinced me. I especially wanted not to have after-sales service for my products. Since 2016 we have marketed more than 250 connected scales in Europe and the sensor has largely kept its promises of reliability and robustness. The scale must indeed be able to withstand the handling operations of an agricultural machine during a transhumance. "

www.hbm.com/fr/9885/honeyinstruments-capteur-de-pesage-fait-le-buz/