meta BroodMinder-W4 features
BroodMinder-W4 is our most accurate hive scale. It is specially designed for migratory beekeeping and continuously monitors hive weight. With an excellent stability and accuracy thanks to its 4x100kg temperature compensated load cells you will be able to manage your hive needs remotely.
You will be able to track nectar flow start-up and intensity every hour. With a cellular hub the data flows directly to your smartphone. Besides raw hive weight we’re computing a rolling 24h weight variation as well as hive productivity metrics. Our algorithms also automatically detect supper addition/removal of feeding activities sorting out all the relevant information for you.
The full weight design is mandatory when doing migration. In your yard you will not have the time to fine-tune leveling nor centering and neither ensure an homogeneous sitting of the hive. It is in this kind of ‘harsh’ configurations that single bar scales reach their limits. It is so easy to have an uneven load front/rear for example, because there is a 3 point sitting instead of 4. When you’re back home you need to be sure that the whole hive weight is captured.
You can mount it in two ways: front/rear or left/right. The scale surface top and bottom is grooved to avoid any slip. If you’re using Nicotplast bottoms they will perfectly fit with the scale and you can add extra 4x centering pins (pre-hole already placed, simply drill with a 6.5mm bit).
We have designed BroodMinder-W4 so it can be mounted on wooden or metal pallets. It can be screwed or pinned and stay for long installed. In normal operation for hive migration, you can load the fully stacked assembly (pallet + scales + hives) on your truck with no fear. With its 400kg nominal weight, BroodMinder-W4 is able to hold efforts far beyond any strapping you can make. As a further security, the design also contains a natural end-stop to avoid any occasional damage.
The W4 hive-scale structure is 100% built in 4mm thick aluminum insensitive to corrosion and with no maintenance.
Battery life is 5 years and the Bluetooth signal range is about 30 to 40 meters.
As for any other BroodMinder device one measure is taken every hour and stored into the internal memory so that you do not miss any data.
Works with the extensive BroodMinder wireless ecosystem and you will need a Broodminder-Cell to inspect the data in real time: this option requires a premium subscription (learn about subscription plans here).
The data can be accessed both on mobile in BroodMinder Bees app (Android, iOs) and on the web Mybroodminder.com where you will find advanced metrics like daily weight gain and hive productivity.
For those working collaboratively with other fellow beekeepers you can consider the apiary share feature in Mybroodminder.com. This allows you and your colleagues to mutually follow multiple apiary yards and detect any nectar flow start through your combined network of scales.
With the premium membership your data remains fully private and only you decide and manage who can access it (read only).
