Working during the main nectar flow without scales holding a control hive means working…

Working during the main nectar flow without scales holding a control hive means working blindly. A simple scale design providing the necessary weighing accuracy is proposed (see figure). It consists of a pipe 80–100 mm in diameter, buried about 800 mm deep in the ground. A beam of the scales, welded from two angle irons of the same section, rests on a cantilever made of I-beam No. 8 through a 60 mm long support angle.

To fix the beam’s position, two 5 mm thick steel strips with seven 16 mm diameter holes spaced 100 mm apart are welded underneath. A 10 kg weight is hung on the beam via a stud through these holes. Above the beam, a 25x3 mm angle iron with marks every 50 mm is welded through 5 mm thick steel plates, on which a 2 kg weight with a slot underneath is placed.