I picked up an IR camera and am trying to read the heat in my hive. I am new to these things so I'm not yet proficient in how to use them and might not have the settings set right or maybe I'm expecting too much out of it. I went out yesterday after dark so I could see the screen well but I didn't see a strong 'glow' from anywhere on the hive except at one of the seams. That lit up like the sun. I'm not sure how to take a still picture with it yet but I'll get there and then I'll have something I can post up.
So my questions are, should I be able to see a bright glow where the bees are clustered, and any ideas on what to change to make that possible?
Terri, I have an IR camera that I bought to find hives in walls. Yes, you should definitely bee able to see a cluster through the box walls. Night time is a good time to see it because you don?t have the sun heating the side of the box. Something to keep in mind when you are looking for a hive. As long as it is in the shade you are okay. I will try to find some infrared pictures to show you what it looks like.
Jim Altmiller
Here are some IR pictures.
The first one shows a hive with brood in the middle box and the top box. I think I combined two hives because the bottom hive was weak. The trace lines are from the second camera on the infrared camera that takes an actual photo and superimposes the outline on the IR photo.
The next picture I took of my cat sleeping on a carpet. As soon as she saw me she got up and moved. The cat on the right side is where she was sleeping on the rug.
The next picture is from a Trapout of a hive in a brick wall. The first picture is what it looks like and the second is the IR. By the time I took this photo most of the bees were in the Nuc.
Na
IR cameras are interesting. If I was a gung-ho cutout type fellow, I would defiantly have one to aid in locating the cluster behind walls etc.
So, that first picture uses the feature that utilizes both camera lenses? If so, that sounds like the way to go.
Terri,
Every time you take a picture it does that. The one of the cat was in a dark room so the normal photo didn?t show up. You can see it in the last photo also.
I think I'm making progress. Here's three shots, one front, one side and one rear. It looks like they're hanging out bottom front. Why does the top look warmer than the boxes below it?
Heat rises and warms the area just below the lid.
Jim Altmiller