Bottom View

The V5 Hive Scale is a robust platform for measuring the weight of a bee hive.

A) The high-quality stainless steel assembly includes pre-positioned lugs for screwing the scale to a wooden pallet.

B) The load cell is a high-quality aluminium device that converts weight to a resistance value that is measured in the electronic circuit. Each load cell can take a load of up to 75KG making the overall platform (four corners) capable of taking a balanced load at up to 300KG.

C) Electronics enclosure. This is a waterproof housing for the circuit that drives the hive scale and provides data logging and transmission of the weight over Bluetooth.

D) The battery compartment of the electronics enclosure can be accessed by removing a single screw (Philips head). Be careful not to misplace this screw. The compartment takes four (4) AA batteries. Make sure you use high-quality alkaline batteries with a power rating of 2000mAH. The scales power on when you insert the batteries and will run for at least 12 months.

On the top side of the scale, you will find the HiveDoctor hive base/floor. We include this on all FreeWave Hive Scales so that all you need to do is put your existing hive boxes on top and start monitoring.

A) Make sure any strapping is wrapped around the plastic of the hive base only, do not include any of the stainless steel in the strapping as this will pull the weigh scales tight and produce strange weight readings.

B) The HiveDoctor hive base/floor is included with the product so that you are ready to go. This is an industry-leading ventilated hive floor.

C) The FreeWave hive strapping tie-down is optional and can be purchased from the online store.

D) The hive entrance is included, up this way (door at the bottom) for normal operation and upside down (small holes only, for airflow) to close the hive for transport.

E) The rectangle in the front is where the Bluetooth signal will escape from the electronics enclosure, this should always be at the same end as the hive entrance so it is facing outwards and not obscured by anything.

Initial Power On

When you replace the batteries in the Hive Scale, be sure to do so outdoors with a clear view of the sky (no trees or building roof in the way). This is important because when the electronics first boot up the system will attempt to get a GPS lock and set the time.

The time is important because every reading (weight, temperature/humidity) is recorded on internal memory and stamped with the date/time of the reading. This data logging process cannot start until the Hive Scale has time, and we get time from the GPS network.

Once operational the Hive Scale will re-check its GPS location and time every 24 hours.

If you have downloaded the FreeWave Mobile App you can check the status of the Hive Scale by connecting to it directly using Bluetooth. This will allow you to enter the device details screen and view current readings (weight, temperature, humidity, battery level and GPS status).