Measure Twice, Fit Once
Little did I know I needed such an instrument
Designing electronics for a beehive taught me very quickly that a ruler—and certainly my eyeball—wasn't going to cut it. Enter my first digital caliper.
Every millimeter matters. Components have to fit the circuit board, the board has to fit its enclosure, and the finished device has to fit into a working colony without interfering with the bees. That means measuring accurately, checking the specifications, and then measuring again. And again.
One particularly important constraint is “bee space”—the roughly 6–9 mm (¼–⅜ inch) gap bees naturally maintain for movement. Make a space too large and bees may fill it with comb; make it too small and they may seal it with propolis.
I've learned a basic engineering lesson: use the right tool, measure accurately, and never be embarrassed to measure one more time.
