Innovative Beehive uses Zemic Single Point Loadcell

Zemic Europe: Case study: FPGA company developed an innovative beehive, they have called it HiveWatch. Zemic Europe developed and supplied FPGA company with a customized version of a single point loadcell for their beehive weighing system.

Loadcells used in beehives

Zemic found it very interesting to help such an innovative company like FPGA company to develop their HiveWatch.
HiveWatch is an intelligent and efficient solution for the precise weighing of bee colonies. This system helps beekeepers to do their work more efficiently, precisely and without disturbing interventions with the bees.

FPGA and Hardware Design Services is a young and flexible start-up company that is specialised in FPGA and hardware design. The expertise wihin FPGA enables the customers' new products to be quickly introduced to the market, which differentiates them from other similar companies.

This vision matches very well with Zemic’s vision. As we strongly believe that our focus on creating value for our customers will help them to differentiate themselves in their market. Zemic Europe's slogan is therefore "We believe we make you stronger!".

How Zemic could help FPGA company

All our products, from Zemic Europe and also from FPGA company, are designed with the intent to deliver important features and results to customers. This was the basis for FPGA company to develop the HiveWatch, an intelligent and efficient solution for the precise weighing of bee colonies. This is vital in understanding the exact state of each individual beehive.

Zemic Europe and FPGA.company worked together to develop a weighing platform and Zemic Europe worked out which loadcell was most suitable. A single point loadcell is modified and used in the new Beehive weighing system. Zemic has an R&D Department with more than 225 professional engineers which are able to develop custom made products.

About HiveWatch

HiveWatch enables the weighing of all bee colonies at a fraction of the cost of existing digital bee weighing systems, and implements intelligent algorithms that make the analysis easier.

The HiveWatch offers the following benefits:

Alarm; Always informed HiveWatch notices when bees swarm, if there is threat from a thid party or when the food is running out. The beekeeper will be informed by SMS, phone or email.

Analysis; Compare and identify The scales comparison allows comparing bee colonies and detecting patterns of behaviour. Bee swarms and theft can be recognized.

Practical; Robust and reliable Maturity over 1 year with only 3xAA batteries. SIM card included, links worldwide with numerous mobile networks. There are no hidden fees for SMS/phone alarms.

HiveWatch allows the connection of up to eight scales to the radio station. The weight data are collected regularly and transferred to the web server over the mobile network at configurable intervals. In case of special occurrences such as bee swarm or prey, the transmission is carried out immediately so that the beekeeper receives an alarm within a few seconds. The beekeeper can view the data of the bees from any location via the HiveWatch application and make configurations (transmission interval, alarms, etc).

Different beekeepers are very enthusiastic about the possibilities of the HiveWatch.

Single point loadcells by Zemic Europe

Zemic Europe is a center of competence in the area of designing and manufacturing of load cells, straingages and miniature sensors. We have the production facility to accommodate small batches of sample pieces or to mass produce millions of miniature sensors.

Single Point Load Cells can be used for a variety of weighing functions but their most common application is found in most small to medium sized platform scales. Zemic Europe defines maximum plattform sizes from 200x200 mm up to 1200x1200 mm. The maximum platform size is of course restricted according to the capacity of the loadcell - available from 300 grams up to 2000kg.