Rex - I have one for you. I weigh each colony in the fall, to determine how much
hfcs to feed out. I use a metal bar with a hook welded on it. The hook holds the
spring scale. Attatched to the bottom of the scale are two arms that grab the
hand holes on the hive front and back. Trouble is - 1. it takes two people to
weigh each hive, 2. after 1000 colonies, my arms and shoulders are dead. Would
love an easier way. Something one person could handle. Something easy to use,
set up, take down, and transport. I don't want to weigh 1/2 of the hive at a
time, and then take an average. I want the real weight. I find that by weighing
each hive, I can feed just what they need. No waste, no underfeeding.   Mike
 
Rex Bryant wrote:
 
> Hello to all,
>
> I am an amateur beekeeper (one hive currently) and I enjoy the hobby A LOT!
>
> I am also a mechanical engineer and a designer of custom automation
> equipment.  It crossed my mind tonight that there may be a need for new
> types of automated equipment in some professional beekeeping operations.  I
> am guessing that new or improved automatic equipment could be developed to
> assemble frames, wire foundation, or handle and extract frames of honey (for
> example).  For the latter, full supers could be the input (stacks of them)
> and clean supers and honey could be the output (of the automatic system).
>
> If these ideas sound interesting to anyone, or if anyone has another need
> for automation in beekeeping (or any need for automation, for that matter),
> I would be happy to discuss it.  I do not ask for ANY design input.  I
> simply wish to hear some views.
>
> Happy beekeeping,
>
> Rex Bryant
>
> [log in to unmask], or (for serious inquiries or urgent needs)
> [log in to unmask] (work-mail)