Friday, November 9, 2018

Pry-scale revisited, one more time

Last spring I had built a pry-scale with which I could monitor the changing weight of the hives.  The scale worked fine but the bottom board could not tolerate the strain.  The bottom boards have a small cross piece to support the tray.  My bottom box is different than the one pictured below, but you can see a piece of wood below the white tray.  This is about 3/4" square and held on with staples.


When the hives were heavy, the strip of wood was pried away from the box.
I still wanted to monitor the weight, so I had to figure out a way to re-enforce the bottom.  I first used a piece of hard wood flooring. I used a router to make a space for the pry-scale levers, but this weakened the plank allowing it to bend too much.  Then I thought of using a metal strap.
I got 3/8" steel straps.
Using my reciprocating saw, I cut them into 16-1/4" lengths, then drilled holes in the ends.  I beveled the holes so the screw head would not protrude.
 The straps were screwed onto the bottom of the boards.
I tested one placing a cinder block and several heavy stones on it and it worked.  Now I will have an extra duty in the apiary next spring.
This photo has nothing to do with my bees.  The mushrooms were alongside the bike path in Ireland.

No comments:

Post a Comment