Detailed information about the structure of the beelogger system.

The beelogger Universal (solar) variant in the LTE version was set up according to instructions at https://beelogger.de and the software was installed. The system is powered by 2 solar cells 6V 2W, 2 Li-Ion batteries type 18650 are used as energy storage. Batteries and charging electronics are integrated on the battery shield in the housing.

A big praise to the creators of the site and to Rudolf and Jerry from the beelogger development team for their patient and beyond all doubt expert help!

The housing was custom designed and made from PETG plastic using the 3D printer. Complete waterproofness is not achievable in the FDM process, so additional constructive weather protection is required.

The solar cells and the sensor for the environmental data (DHT22) are attached to a mast, which in turn is attached to the hive frame or with an earth spike in the ground.

The adapter connects the carrier plate of the solar panel with the angle piece of the mast. It also serves as weather protection for the luster terminals.

The sensor is housed in a protective case ("weather hut"), which protects the sensor from rainwater and at the same time is well permeable to air. Mounted in the shade and made of light-colored plastic, temperature distortion due to sunlight should be largely eliminated.

On the underside of the mast is a two-part cable passage plug, which should largely exclude colonization of the tube by insects or small mammals.

The frame was self-constructed and made of steel. It is a hot-dip galvanized welded construction. The frame, as well as the Mavin NA2 load cell used, is designed for a load of 200 kg.

A load and deformation analysis was performed using FEM (Finite Element Method), with the result that the installation of "deflection limiters" for deformation protection is neither required nor practical.

The measurement data can be retrieved via the Internet and displayed in the browser. Numerous settings can also be made there.

Via the beelogger community server, all measured values can be displayed in interactive graphics. The displays leave hardly anything to be desired. 

In this graph, for example, you can see the following:

• The weight decreases continuously over 5 days (consumption of the bee colony).
• The foothills of the hurricane Zeynep shake the hive and lead to corresponding peaks in the weight signal.
• The load cell has no significant temperature cross-sensitivity. The correction value during this series of measurements is -4.5g/°C.

When the sky is overcast, the solar voltage is 4.5V and is still sufficient to charge the battery.

If you want a more visually appealing display, you can link your beelogger channel to your BEEP account. However, the displays in the BEEP app hardly allow any evaluation options.

Unfortunately, neither of these platforms supports the synchronization of the measurement data with Thingspeak. This would allow the integration of the live readings on your own website, as seen on our hive scale page. The data on that page comes from our HoneyPi-based hive scale.

Update 10.05.2022:

Jerry from the beelogger team has thankfully implemented the synchronization of measurement data with ThingSpeak. The contribution of the garden beekeeper is the tutorial for the visualization of measurement data with ThingSpeak.