Taking Notes In The Bee Yard
Whether you have one hive or 10,000, keeping up with what you’ve done, what you need to do, and when it needs to be done can be daunting. If you depend on your memory, your bees are likely to prove that wasn’t a reliable method!
There are many methods, opinions, and options on how to keep records of your hive’s changes or your management. Some keep sophisticated, detailed spreadsheets, while others put a rock on the lid if a hive needs something or even write on the lid or box with lumber crayons. The best recommendation is to do whatever works for you! At a minimum, take quick field notes on what each hive needs, if anything.
The most important notes to record are when you take major actions, like splits, installing a queen, treating mites, and so on. The goal is to recall when to take the next step, like checking back on the queen, removing mite treatments, and the like. If your operations grows to dozens of hives in multiple locations, you are more likely to keep records by the beeyard rather than by the hive. Nothing more than that is necessary. In most cases, all the bees need basically the same thing at the same time, so detailed record keeping is unnecessary. Often the same action is performed on all of the hives at once, like feeding, equalizing brood, treating, and testing.
Having said all of this, more record keeping can be fun and helpful, especially during the learning process! Some common items to record are:
- How much honey the hive has
- Number of frames of bees and brood
- Bee temperament
- When a mite treatment was installed
- When a mite test was conducted and the results
- Overall hive health and brood pattern
- Any needs
Some popular methods of keeping hive notes
Smart phone apps: Multiple apps are available for beekeepers—some free, some not—but most likely you’ll find one that works for you at little to no cost. One downside is the inability to use a phone while wearing protective gloves. Even most styluses don’t work with gloves on. What then? You have to slip the glove off to input data, which is doable in most situations. Just take a moment to step back, make a quick data entry, and move on to the next hive. Another downside is that it can be cumbersome to work with your phone in the beeyard and you can potentially damage the phone with honey or propolis.
Voice recording: This is a popular method as well. Simply pushing the record button on a voice-recording app upon entering the beeyard and then again when you’ve exited allows for a step-by-step accounting of your activities. Just play it back when you have a moment and jot down any information you’ll need to refer back to in the future.
Hive-top notes: The metal top on telescopic covers is a great writing surface and actually holds the writing for quite a long time. Wax pencils work very well (also called china markers) and can be found in most home improvement stores or online. Taking notes the moment you’ve worked the hive does seem to make more sense, and having the note directly on top of the hive it pertains to is ideal! The downside is the need to visit the hive to “reread” your notes to prepare for any supplies or medication needs, potentially causing you to retrace your steps.
Hive Inspection Sheets: There is something to be said about doing things the old- fashioned way. Taking a few minutes to step back from the hive and take detailed notes on a hive inspection sheet leaves little room for error. This is much easier when there are more than one of you working hives – one to inspect and another to take notes. It’s accurate and very detailed, making tracking your hive's progress easy.