A hive on a scale tells you more than an inspection does, and it never gets stung.
Weight says when the flow started, the day it stopped, and whether they'll make it to April —
without cracking the lid.
Add a reading
Weigh the same way every time — luggage scale hooked under the back edge and
doubled is close enough, as long as it's always the back edge. Consistency beats accuracy here;
you're reading the change, not the absolute number.
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total weight gaining losing
Winter stores check
Latest weight
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Estimated stores
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Against target
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Winter burn left
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A double-deep with drawn comb and no honey runs about 60–70 lb of woodenware.
Weigh an empty one once and you'll never have to guess again. Bees themselves are only
8–12 lb, which is inside the noise of a luggage scale.
Readings
What the line is telling you. A steady climb of 3–8 lb a day is a real flow and the time to
get supers on. A flat line in June means the flow quit early and they're eating what they made.
A slow bleed through July and August is normal dearth — that's the stretch where a light colony
starves while you assume they're fine. Through winter expect to lose roughly 1 lb a week early on
and 2–3 lb a week once brood rearing restarts in late January, which is exactly when the last of
the stores disappears fastest.
Everything here stays on this phone. Readings are saved in this browser only — no account,
no server, nothing sent anywhere. Clearing your browser data clears these too, so if a season's
worth of numbers matters to you, write the important ones down somewhere else as well.