Does the heft test actually work? Calibrating my arm against a luggage scale and what weight to aim for
Second year in Galway with three National hives, and I'll be honest: when I "heft" the back of a hive I have absolutely no idea what I'm feeling. Last year I thought they were heavy and one nearly starved in February. This year I want a number.
So I bought a luggage scale, hooked it under the back of the floor and lifted until the front just stayed on the stand: 14 kg, 16 kg and 11 kg on the three. The front readings were similar, so totals of roughly 27, 31 and 23 kg. The internet tells me a single National wants about 18 kg of stores for winter, but that's stores, not the reading on a scale hanging off one side of a hive with a wet cedar roof.
How do you experienced folks actually use the heft? Is there a rule of thumb for what the back-lift should read on a full National, and does the western Irish rain change the target? I'd rather learn my arm now than find out the hard way again.
#hefting#winter-stores#luggage-scale#beginner
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4 replies
CorkBeeRon · Sep 10, 2026
The heft works, but only after you've calibrated it exactly the way you're doing. Back-lift plus front-lift is close enough to the whole hive weight, so 27, 31 and 23 are your real numbers. My rule for a single National on a wooden floor with a cedar roof, here in Cork: back-lift reading about 18-20 kg on my own scale by the end of September, which comes out near 40 kg all in, about 18 kg of it stores. Your 11 kg colony needs a lot of syrup, the 14 needs a bit. Write the numbers on the roof and repeat monthly — the drop between readings is what tells the story in January.
PerthshireBees · Sep 10, 2026
Same idea in Perthshire, and one thing to watch: heft in the same conditions each time. A soaked roof and floor after a week of west-coast rain can add a couple of kilos that aren't food. I heft the morning after a dry day if I can get one, which in your part of the world may be a challenge. Rain doesn't change the target, it just adds noise to your reading.
DrentseBij · Sep 10, 2026
Also lift from both sides, not just the back — bees often store lopsided, and a hive that reads fine on the back but light on the front can have a cluster on the wrong side of an empty gap. The scale is teaching your arm; after a winter of doing both, you'll find you don't need it much. But keep it for the light ones.
GalwayBees · Sep 11, 2026
Grand, that's the number I was missing. So near 40 kg all in, back-lift about 18-20. The 11 kg one has been getting 2:1 every evening since Tuesday and read 15 this morning, so it's going in. Numbers on the roofs now, thanks CorkBeeRon.