There will be also 10+ other hives using ESP-Now to send data to this master for uploading, so it is much easier to oversize the solar panel and work backwards 
Just to be clear - dont attempt to update ingress/egress live - count for a period - again say 10 mins then update that vaue - both directions or simply a net figure (signed for net direction?) to minimise air time 
I’m following this project for the counter: GitHub - hydronics2/2019-easy-bee-counter: Bee-counter-easy
I need to make changes to the PCB design, make it smaller (12 gates instead of 24) and remove the controller, as that’ll be housed elsewhere. I don’t suppose anyone has Eagle or Kicad skills?
