# How do you weigh bees? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 13, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-weigh-bees/481151 "2009-01-13T21:30:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-weigh-bees/481151/21 "2009-01-13T23:22:29Z")
Trouble is, the queen gets all upset if she’s gained since her last weighing. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-weigh-bees/481151/22 "2009-01-13T23:31:19Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > To pick even smaller nits: only acceleration/deceleration matters - unaccelerated movement will not affect the indicated weight. True. I was taking for granted the limited scope for long-term ongoing unaccelerated movement, inside a small box. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-weigh-bees/481151/23 "2009-01-13T23:31:28Z")
Besides the points already given, there is one other important thing which is any vibrations or minute variances can be taken care of. You use units of measure that are reasonable to ensure you get a correct weight. A reasonable increment is chosen and the scale sensitivity is set to take a longer timed average of the weight for less stable loads. The scale displays the average of discrete measurements taken at the sensor’s sample speed and not each sample. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-weigh-bees/481151/24 "2009-01-13T23:41:33Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > But where do you go to weigh a pie? > > Somewhere over the rainbow That was truly wicked. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-weigh-bees/481151/25 "2009-01-13T23:48:06Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > To pick even smaller nits: only acceleration/deceleration matters - unaccelerated movement will not affect the indicated weight. There is no such thing as an unaccelerated movement in the vertical, because gravity will always be acting on the bees. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-weigh-bees/481151/26 "2009-01-13T23:55:57Z")
My dad bought some bees by mail once. Just to add to the mix: They came in a box that was thin wood on four sides and screen on the two largest sides. The bees were mostly crawling on the box or other bees. We did not weigh them to see if we had been shorted a couple of bees. The purpose is to start a hive and if there are enough bees to do that, who cares what the actual weight is. So a couple of bees flying would have been moot even with the air escaping through the screen. The queen (in a separate little box inside) was related to all of the other bees. Therefore, when we put the bees into the part of the hive box with the queen exclusion exit, the rest of the bees all hung around. I’m guessing that unrelated bees would have wandered off and mixed bees would have fought in the box. Bad news. We discovered that when a box of bees with screen on two sides of the box comes into a suburban post office on a Sunday, they hand deliver that sucker pronto. They want it out of their post office. The instructions said to mix up some sugar water and brush it onto the screens to feed the bees and calm them before opening the box. We did that. It was extremely interesting to see all the little bee tongues flipping through the screen. It was almost like moving velvet. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-weigh-bees/481151/27 "2009-01-14T00:02:42Z")
Apparently a hive will accept a replacement queen - beekeepers replace queens quite routinely, I think. No idea what, if anything, they have to do to make it work. ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-weigh-bees/481151/28 "2009-01-14T00:03:23Z")
The dogs with bees in their mouths and when they bark they shoot bees at you! ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-weigh-bees/481151/29 "2009-01-14T00:03:50Z")
The bees would have weighed less once you had them, because they are living insects. ---
**Author:** ![wigwag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f1d935/32.png) [@wigwag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wigwag)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-weigh-bees/481151/30 "2009-01-14T00:06:30Z")
> [@](#): > > like moving velvet Thank you, Yllaria. That was lovely! ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-weigh-bees/481151/31 "2009-01-14T00:37:31Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > There is no such thing as an unaccelerated movement in the vertical, because gravity will always be acting on the bees. Right - that’s called weight. If there is no change in vertical velocity, measured weight is constant. ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-weigh-bees/481151/32 "2009-01-14T01:11:32Z")
FWIW Mythbusters did an [experiment](http://mythbustersresults.com/episode77) to determine if a container full of birds weighs more or less (or the same) when the birds are flying. They determined the container weighs the same because when the birds are in flight, they’re pushing down the air which still counts toward the container’s load. I’ll assume the exact same principle would hold true for a container of bees (or any other flying object). ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-weigh-bees/481151/33 "2009-01-14T01:22:31Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > But where do you go to weigh a pie? > > Somewhere over the rainbow Where do you go to weigh Moby Dick? A whale-weigh station [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-weigh-bees/481151.md?page=1)