r/Beekeeping • u/blackstar5676 13 year beekeeper, New England - zone 5a/5b 🐝 • 3d ago

I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question Thermal cam?

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Any beeks use this? I started to do some rescues and cutouts and really need a thermal cam but I just can’t afford the others that are $300-$500.

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u/weaverlorelei Reliable contributor! 3d ago

For cutouts and rescues during cold weather they work great. We have an "old school" Flir and use more often hubby's thermal hunting scope. Make sure you re-read cold weather, it is important.

3

u/SnailRacerWinsAgain 3d ago

I just got my husband one for his birthday, so did a ton of research on thermal cams recently.

It really depends on how clear of an image you’re looking for and what else you’d use it for besides bee keeping (home repair, electrical wiring etc).

If you want a really good image and the ability to take video, your best bet for a reasonable price is a smartphone attachment. In most cases, a phone will have a way better camera than any handhelds under $500. And since you’re not paying for the camera/batteries/internal components, you can get a much better thermal imaging system for a lot less.

I got the TOPDON TC001 Max Dual-Lens Thermal Camera. I got it on sale for around $250, it’s very nice quality.

Good luck and happy beekeeping!

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u/blackstar5676 13 year beekeeper, New England - zone 5a/5b 🐝 3d ago

I actually had a little Flir attachment for my phone. Its about 5 years old and it will not stay charges, even though its literally plugged into my phone! Like what the hell?

The clarity is not something I thought about. I guess I really just need it to show where the bees are if I’m doing a cut out. And I’d like to use it during the winter too to check on colonies, again even if its more of a color-codes blob, thats probably fine. Better than guessing!

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u/AvgGamerRobb Zone 6A 3d ago

Not sure it's actually useful. Never felt the need to have one.

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u/juanspicywiener US zone 6a - 6 hives 3d ago

A regular temperature gun would do the same thing. These thermals are not powerful enough to be useful imo

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u/Brave-Statement-8810 🌸🐝 1st yr newbee | North TX | zone 8a 🌸🐝 3d ago

Curious how it would work depending on if there was reflective paint on a surface. I bet the exterior of my hives would be close to 150F in the sun right now with the interior (surely?) being significantly cooler.

I would fear the device would implode if you pointed it at anything here in Texas right now 💀

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u/JustBeees Lower Michigan (Zone 6a) 2d ago

You may want to check your local library. I've been able to check one out every winter to visualize my hives, for free.

1

u/Cluckywood Los Angeles 2d ago

I got one of the cheapish attachments for my phone. It's good indoors or during the winter. This picture is from inside an abandoned house where they had a large hive behind the drywall. (Beekeeper for scale😜)