Record Keeping A Management Tool Landi Simone, Master Beekeeper
Can you believe this?! She wants us to take notes! BORING!!! Let s chase a ball or take a nap instead!
Reasons NOT to Keep Colony Records Not hard to answer that! It takes time, it s annoying, it s another thing to do and another thing to lose!
So WHY do it?? Learning tool for beginners Management aid for experienced beekeepers Tool for evaluating what works and what doesn t (e.g. mite treatments) Aid to diagnosing diseases (e.g. Nosema) I am so totally going to talk you out of that bad attitude! I NEED those notes! Aid to reporting data for BIP, USDA surveys or farmland assessment
What s Available? There are many packaged recordkeeping systems to choose from, from very simple to very sophisticated. The most important thing is to choose something that works for YOUR style of management and YOUR particular operation. It makes sense to spend a little time thinking about what you want to record and how you d like to do it.
Simple Systems
Paper & Pen Systems Economical Advantages Good choice if you have a small number of hives Compact and portable Disadvantages Tedious to pull out specific data if organized in journal format Doesn t fare well if you forget it in the beeyard and it rains! Becomes cumbersome with larger numbers of hives, especially when moving bees
You Can Create a Custom Paper-and Pen System Simple Record keeping systems work just fine if you put the time in to decide beforehand WHAT is useful to record and HOW best to do it. Records for a small scale queen breeder will differ from those of a hobbyist or someone who does pollination. Every operation is different.
Digital Systems Advantages Can readily sort and manipulate data Fast keyboard entry if you are a good typist Can back up data so all is not lost if something happens to the device Essentially unlimited storage space no need to buy more notebooks! Disadvantages Expensive equipment Some need an internet connection, which, if you have multiple apiaries, may not be available without additional expense Propolis and honey on your hands do not benefit most digital equipment! This may result in double entries (field notes transcribed to computer)
Canned Digital Systems Hive Tracks Web database application Free version and Pro, which is fairly inexpensive Can create groups in Pro to share information Google Earth linked to site apiaries Photos, equipment tracking Mobile app Bee Tight Mobile App Similar features
Some of the Things You Can Track in Digital Apps Whether you use 10 or 8 frame equipment Seeing queen, eggs, capped brood, larvae, queen cells Temperament Population Odor Equipment Condition Brace comb, excessive propolis, dead bees, moisture or mold Foundation type Weather How much equipment is on the bees at any given time And more.
There are also forms available for printing on-line Many different styles of forms can be printed out. These can include notations about everything from the quality of the brood pattern to seeing ants to whether you have an excluder or shim on your hive. Some are so detailed they require that you note the contents of every frame in every box of the hive. The real question is: In YOUR operation, what information do YOU want to record, and for what purpose? If a canned system works for you, whether hand-written or digital, great! Get it! If not, spend some time this winter designing your own.
Gooserock Farm s Record- Keeping System Small commercial operation of 110-120 colonies at 11 apiaries, some of which receive farmland assessment because of the bees. No pollination, queen rearing, or nuc production for sale. Income is from varietal honey production and valueadded products. All sales are retail.
What do I Not Want to Don t care about ants! Don t care about brace comb. Don t care about equipment. If it needs replacement, a note goes on the action list. Don t care if there s pollen on frame 2 or 3, or capped brood on frames 4, 5, and 6. Just care that they have enough of both. Record? Photo: Parks Talley
What Do I Want to Record? Health Strength Adequacy of food stores Swarm management If queenright Honey production Location of colony Action list Apiary notes Anything else I think important
Hand-Written or Digital? Available digital systems record too much detail for my operation and do not have the ability to easily track colonies from one location to another. Looked at creating custom software but without wifi in all our yards, this would have required a double-entry system (hand-written notes transcribed to a computer). Too much work! Also did not want the expense or the risk of losing or damaging a tablet or laptop. Decided on a custom designed, written notebook.
Presenting..The Book!
Features of The Book 3 ring binder with zipper in case of rain Compartments for extra forms, reading glasses, flashlight, pens, magic markers Tab section for each apiary Single sheet form for each hive Apiary Notes form to track comments pertinent to an entire beeyard, e.g. weed-whacking, electric fencing, nectar flows Action List
Hive No. Date NOTES Fed Mites Honey Loc Colony Record Form This is the basic form we use for every colony. It tracks everything of importance in our operation. One sheet of paper generally suffices for about 3 years of notes.
The Basic Form in Action And now for The translation.
Date NOTES Fe d 3/8/14 Alive; still has some honey. Fed ½ F +PP 4/11 Reversed. Mites Honey Loc K-19 4/25 18-19 F B&B. Gave a HS & no TM ½ MAQS 5/3 Good. 5/17 Nothing in HS. Nice pattern. Saw eggs. 5/29 Pulled SB. N= 8 mites/9 days 6/1 Gave a second HS. 6/15 Gave a third HS. Done with 2 nd. 7/9 Took 2, left 2. All that can fit on truck 2 8/5 2 8/18 AG 9/10 Exc. BP, 50# H, lots of bees (27+F) MAQS 9/28 Heavy. Did not open. 3/25/15 Alive. F 4/19 13F bees. Took 1 CB & 1 Pol for nuc. Rev. & gave TM. 5/24 Top box full of bees & wht. wax. H.
About Tracking Locations We sometimes move hives from one yard to another in order to take advantage of a strong flow. We need the colony record to not be lost in the move. The answer? Each hive has a Hive # Each stand in the apiary has a Location #. If we move a hive, we just take its record sheet out of the old apiary section and put it in the new one.
Apiary Record APIARY RECORD Date Notes
Get it right, now! We don t want any bears in here! The Apiary Record Form in Action
The Action List This one s so you don t forget something important like getting us a new queen if we need one!
So are we done with forms now? Can we eat dinner?
Not quite yet, Dexter! There s one more form the Honey Production Form. It stays in the Honey House until the harvest is done for the year. Then we use it to make the farmland assessment letters.
I see it! It s in a clipboard behind the counter!
You got it, little buzz! Every time we fill a 5 gallon bucket with honey, we make a mark that shows the variety and the apiary it came from. At the end of the year, we know exactly how much honey we produced!
So let me be sure I understand this! If I keep records, I won t forget important stuff like requeening or if a bear fence needs a new battery I might be able to better identify problems like Nosema or other diseases I ll help my landlords with accurate honey production records And there s probably even more good stuff, right? So, can we eat NOW?
Care for some kale? It s yummy! NOW you can eat, Dex!