Document and Entity Information - shares	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2018	May 03, 2018
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-Q
Document period end date	Mar. 31, 2018
Amendment flag	false
Document Period Focus	Q1
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2018
Current fiscal year end date	--12-31
Entity central index key	0001123494
Entity current reporting status	Yes
Entity filer category	Accelerated Filer
Entity registrant name	HARVARD BIOSCIENCE INC
Entity voluntary filers	No
Entity well known seasoned issuer	No
Entity common stock shares outstanding		35,980,459
Trading Symbol	HBIO