Know how every
apiary is doing,
without driving out.
The SMS Scale is an electronic scale for beehives. It keeps track of the weight of the hive, the temperature inside it and the conditions at the apiary, and sends you the report by SMS, e-mail and to the app on your phone — as soon as something changes.
Fewer trips to the apiary. More peace of mind that everything is fine.
Apiaries are often far from home, out of sight and out of reach. The SMS Scale fills that gap with real numbers instead of guesswork.
Without the scale
- You drive all the way out just to see whether everything is all right.
- If someone steals a hive, your equipment or your vehicle, you find out hours or days later.
- Through winter you have no idea how fast the bees are eating their stores until you open the hive.
- Newer devices usually need Wi-Fi or mobile internet — and there is rarely any deep in the woods or up in the hills.
With SMS Scale
- The hive reports on its own — by SMS, by e-mail or in the app.
- The alarm warns you right away if a hive or a vehicle is moved.
- You can follow winter stores from your armchair, day by day.
- It works over the GSM network and plain text messages — no internet needed, even where there is no Wi-Fi at all.
The same scale, used differently — from a single hive to a full migration.
Whatever the size or type of your apiary, the SMS Scale gives you the same numbers. Everyone just puts them to their own use.
Stationary apiaries
Follow the nectar flow and the winter stores through the whole season without driving out every few days — a glance at your phone is enough.
Migratory apiaries
Compare the yield from different forage — acacia, sunflower, lime — and decide where the next move is really worth it.
Urban apiaries
See how much nectar the bees actually find in parks and green spaces, and start feeding in time.
Large and commercial apiaries
Readings from all your hives arrive on their own — no need to open each one before you decide about moving or treating them.
A sturdy scale, built to stand outdoors.
A metal frame carries the hive while the electronic unit measures, processes and sends the data — it takes rain, heat and frost equally well.
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Weighing right at the apiaryThe load cell inside the frame keeps track of the hive weight all the time.
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Weather dataExtra sensors report the temperature and the conditions at the site.
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Set-up over BluetoothAll settings can be changed straight from your phone.
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Alarm system can be addedAdd alarm sensors and protect your hives, the apiary or your vehicle from theft.
Built to stay outdoors, sized for every hive.
Two H-shaped metal frames with the load cell between them — powder-coated, galvanised or stainless steel, with a wooden or metal platform of your choice.
| Hive type | Width | Length | Height | Platform (W × L) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Langstroth / DB10 / Farrar | 350 mm | 450 mm | 90 mm | 412 × 504 mm |
| Dadant-Blatt 12 | 450 mm | 450 mm | 90 mm | 504 × 504 mm |
| Alberti-Žnideršič (AŽ) | 350 mm | 565 mm | 90 mm | 420 × 625 mm |
| Rodna Voja | 350 mm | 350 mm | 90 mm | 414 × 414 mm |
| Alpine (Warré-size) | 300 mm | 300 mm | 90 mm | 354 × 354 mm |
- Weight of the frameapprox. 5.5 kg
- With the batteryapprox. 7.5 kg
- With battery and platformapprox. 13 kg
- Weighing range (standard)up to 120 kg (240 or 360 optional)
- Load cell tolerance± 25 g
- GSM modulequad-band 850/900/1800/1900
- Bluetoothversion 3.0
- Power supplyDC 9–30 V, battery 12 V / 7 Ah
- Battery life — MODE 1 (always online)approx. 45 days
- Battery life — MODE 2 (sleep, 2× a day)approx. 120 days
- Operating temperature−30 °C to +80 °C
Three ways to ask — the answer comes back in seconds.
You decide how you check on the hive: on demand, by giving the scale a ring, sending a text message or connecting over Bluetooth — or automatically, through the app, which collects a reading every hour on its own.
You ask the scale
Give it a free ring — it rings twice and hangs up, so the call costs you nothing — or send the text MERENJE, or connect over Bluetooth. The scale replies by SMS or e-mail.
The scale weighs and answers
Within seconds you get a message with the net yield, the tare, the GSM signal, the temperature and the battery level.
You keep track
The report lands on your phone — as a message, an e-mail, or neatly laid out in the app, ready for your next visit.
No calling, no texting: with the SMS Scale app (Android/iOS) the readings arrive on their own, once every hour, for as long as the scale is connected to the battery.
When you leave the apiary, the scale keeps watch.
You arm and disarm the alarm with a single text message, every time you arrive at the apiary or leave it.
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ALARM START / ALARM STOPOne text message arms the system when you finish work, and all connected sensors start watching. The same message disarms it when you come back.
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Motion, magnetic and micro-switch sensorsOptional accessories you plug into the scale — they are not part of the standard set. Fit them under the scale, the hive, the lid or inside your vehicle, and any movement sends you a warning message.
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Sudden loss of weightThe scale checks the weight every 5 minutes. A drop of more than 1 kg triggers a warning right away — a sign of swarming, honey theft or broken comb.
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The scale protects itself tooA built-in system warns you if someone tries to remove or open the device.
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GeofencingWith the GPS module and the app you draw an allowed zone on the map — you get a message the moment the scale leaves it.
All your apiaries on one screen.
The scale takes a reading every hour and sends it to the database by itself. The app picks the data up using the serial number of your scale — nothing to type in, and no waiting for an SMS.
- Weight and temperature in real time
- The full history of hourly readings and e-mail alerts in one place
- Automatic check for a sudden drop or rise in weight, and a message when your target weight is reached
- The LEVER function — you see the moment today's weight catches up with yesterday's
- Daily, weekly and monthly yield for every hive
- Weather forecast for the apiary
Illustration of the app — a summary of the data the device sends.
Apiary · Lime Grove
Latest alerts
Everything you need, in one place.
Full manuals for the scale and the app — SMS commands, settings and an explanation of every function.
User manual
The complete list of SMS commands, settings and alarm functions of the third-generation device.
Technical specification
Dimensions, weighing range, power supply and all the other figures in one document.
Battery care
How to charge and store the battery properly, out of season and over the winter.
More than 30 functions, grouped into four areas.
Every function is set with a single text message or over Bluetooth — no technician, no waiting.
Weighing and taring
The honey is shown separately from the weight of the hive, and you can add supers without doing the sums again by hand.
Security and alarm
Protection for the apiary, the hives, your vehicle and the scale itself — plus warnings about overload and a flat battery.
Messages and reports
The report reaches you the way that suits you, in any of the supported languages.
Location and internet
Find the scale over the GSM network or with the precise GPS module, restart it remotely and check the credit on the SIM card.
The team behind SMS Scale, 15 years and counting.
So far we have delivered more than 10,000 scales to beekeepers in over 20 European countries. Behind every device stands our own team of hardware, embedded and software engineers, backed by Optical of Kruševac, Serbia.
We are not hobbyists — each generation is built on what we learned from the last one and on what beekeepers tell us, day in, day out.
- Solid build quality, with a warranty
- Simple to use — no technician needed
- Long battery life
- Several sizes in the range — one for every common hive
- 2-year warranty on all mechanical and electrical parts.
- Lifetime software warranty — free updates even after the device warranty runs out.
- Service and spare parts for every third-generation revision, with technical support every day — weekends included.
- 20143rd place for innovation6th National Beekeeping Fair, Belgrade — innovation category.
- 20142nd place, Best Technological Innovation in SerbiaNational competition, 141 teams, prize of 750,000 RSD.
- 2016SMS Scale registered as a petty patentIntellectual Property Office of Serbia, no. 1456.
- 2017Gold and silver medalArchimedes (Moscow) and New Time (Sevastopol) innovation fairs.
- 2018Gold medal of Bulgaria and 5 more gold medalsBulgarian Inventors' Union and the Novi Sad fair.
See the scale at work and the awards it has won.
Video guides
29 video guides and media appearances From the first presentation of the device to television interviews — all in one place. The recordings are in Serbian.Awards and recognition
Diplomas, medals and awards won at international innovation and agriculture fairs — proof that the SMS Scale stands shoulder to shoulder with the best in the world.
Full timeline
- 2013Fifth National Beekeeping Fair, Belgrade — talk on "SMS digital scales, alarms and video surveillance against theft, monitored from the beekeeper’s home over GPRS" (Nikola Jovanović)
- 20143rd place at the 6th National Beekeeping Fair in Belgrade, innovation category
- 2014SMS Scale presented at the Summit of China and Central and Eastern European Countries
- 20142nd place in the competition for the Best Technological Innovation in Serbia
- 2014Received by the Mayor of Kruševac and awarded the silver coin bearing the image of Tsar Lazar, given to citizens of merit
- 2015Paper "Smart GPS devices — the SMS Scale example" presented at the MAK 2015 agribusiness forum, Kopaonik (Nikola Jovanović, Aida Maslan)
- 2015Talk at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce before the Beekeeping Group (Aida Maslan, Predrag Koturanović, Nikola Jovanović)
- 2015SMS Scale presented at the 59th International Fair of Technology and Technical Achievements (UFI)
- 2015Presentation at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) symposium "Advancing beekeeping in Serbia"
- 2016Talk at the Istanbul fair, Turkey — "SMS weighing in beekeeping" (Aida Maslan, Nikola Jovanović)
- 2016Talk at the Pleven fair, Bulgaria — "The third generation of the SMS Scale" (Nikola Jovanović, Predrag Koturanović)
- 2016SMS Scale registered as a petty patent with the Intellectual Property Office, no. 1456 UI
- 2017ARCHIMEDES fair in Moscow — Special Prize, a diploma for active part in organising the salon, a gold medal for the development of the SMS scale, and a silver medal at the "New Time" salon in Sevastopol
- 201710th national innovation exhibition "TRANSFER" ITI 2017 in Sofia, Bulgaria — diploma and gold medal for the development of the SMS scale
- 201885th International Agricultural Fair in Novi Sad — grand gold medal for the development of the SMS scale, the gilded "Quality Champion" plaque in the beekeeping equipment group, and the cup for outstanding quality
- 2019Letter of appreciation for taking part in the Beekeeping Fair of the South-East Balkans
Call us and we will walk you through the scale.
We work directly with beekeepers — give one of the numbers a ring and we will tell you exactly what your apiary needs.
VAT no. 106489673 · Reg. no. 20613416 · www.optical.rs
Send a message and we will get back to you the same day.
Fill in the form and tell us what you need — we reply to the e-mail address or phone number you leave.