Temp and humidity for inder £20

[HughMann]

I have just installed these little things
Should give an indication of what is happening over the seasons and if the bees are doing OK in the winter
Anyone seen a good resource for what temp and humidity should be? So far mine shows the bees are keeping hive 5 deg above outside temp and keeping a steady humidity

 

[Murox]

Which part of the hive have you placed them in ?

Ive been using one of these gadgets for the last couple of years. Winter temperature indication is useful but it all depends where in the hive it is placed. When away from the cluster in winter the temp is often only a few degrees above ambient. The probe became a part of the cluster at some point early spring and registered 37 degrees .

 

[drdrday]

I have just installed these little things

I'd be interested to hear how you get on with them, and how well they work over the winter. Not a bad price to have a hint of what's going on in there over the long long winter when we can't pester our bees.

 

[bingevader]

Yes please, if both of you could let us know how you get on, that would be fab.

 

[derekm]

Place one where you think the cluster will be and another low down. The difference in temperature will give an indication of the level of activity particularly interesting in Polystyrene.

 

[Murox]

Place one where you think the cluster will be and another low down. The difference in temperature will give an indication of the level of activity particularly interesting in Polystyrene.

Great idea.

 

[HughMann]

At the moment I have one ontop of a hole on the crown board and one under the hive to give me a reading of the outside temp.
The units seem to work fine outside (they shouldn't get in the wet, but under the hive I think will be OK)
I think I will get 2 more for winter and put them over brood box to try and track cluster movement.
They are very small, have a slit in the back (which I am guessing the bees would love to seal up if I gave them a chance).
I can get a good reading from my house on a line of sight from the phone to the hive which is really nice. Battery supposed to last 100 days (but I will put up with less as they are not indoors)
The software comes in the form of a free app for the phone and records loads of info. I think there may be a choise of apps to use.
The one I am using records:
Temp now for all sensors
Humidity for all sensors
High and lowe in last 24hrs for temp and humid
Dew point for each sensor (wonder if this would be an indicator of when there is condensation in hive?)
If you don't visit the hive every day, it will still keep a track record of all readings for when yuo sync next.
If I could find a cheap way of tracking the weight of the hive, I would very happy!
Today:
Outside hive was max 26.44 min 14.44
Inside max 27.38 min 18.63

I am sure I could record this type of info for years and learn stuff but would like to find a reseource that has done this to compare with.