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Bee Science Farm to use recycled Tesla batteries in instrument trailer

An important part of the Bee Science Farm mission is to develop techniques to monitor and report pollinating insect population changes over time. We need a consistent source of power to operate the two-dozen ground mounted microphones, amplifiers and data recorders, not to mention the computer and the wifi link. This is a big challenge.

Some other creative people have figured out how to do this within a small space of a utility type cargo trailer. Here is an interesting website that shows a food cart powered by a used Tesla battery and the image here is from that site.

Tesla batteries are very expensive, require exact charge controls, and can't be allowed to freeze or be overcharged. Our system will use two Tesla Model S battery packs salvaged from wrecked cars. The control electronics consist of a charge controller that takes voltage from the roof mounted solar panels, an inverter, and temperature and other controls. Over 4.5 kWh per battery pack can be expected which is ama…

Location of the old hives

Along Bay Rd. we have a triangular piece of elevated land where the existing hives are located. I spent several hours trying to reach where two of the hives are as the bittersweet had grown in so densely I couldn't get past it! Also found was buckthorn. That's for another day. Lots of invasive species along that entire roadway choking the trees and even killing a big elm that is now in danger of falling.

This portion is a good 10-15' higher than the field, and there is a utility pole with power and cable on the corner, and a utility shed owned by the town.

Running a power line from the corner over to the field would require placement of one more pole, but the cost will be very high.

A view of the Bee Science property

The Bee Science Farm field in Hadley is located between Bay Rd. and Aqua Vitae Rd and is a long, narrow 7+ acre strip of nearly flat farmland. We are looking South from Bay Rd in this view and you can see the 230' of frontage along Bay Rd, opposite the Hampton Inn. At the lower right corner there is a town utility shed with some sort of equipment in it, hidden by the overgrown bushes and trees.

Looking Southward in this view, there is a stream that pools somewhat in the foreground. Access to the field is difficult from Bay Rd because of this water feature, so we think that rather than try to create a pathway, there is enough land to create a lookout spot from the North. That part of the land is at least 25' higher than the rest, and should provide a nice overall view to the field.

You might have noticed that the fields don't seem to line up perfectly with the property lines: This is OK because the farmer also farmed adjacent plots. Later on the rows of wildflower and …

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