QR labels

A QR label turns a hive into a one-tap shortcut. Stick a label on the roof or brood box, point your phone at it, and Openbeehive opens at that hive's record. No scrolling through lists in the apiary, no squinting at hand-written numbers in the rain.

What the QR code contains

Each hive's code encodes a single deep link to that hive:

<base>/h/<hiveId>

<base> is the address you are using the app at (https://app.openbeehive.org on the hosted service, your own URL on a self-hosted instance) and <hiveId> is the hive's identifier. The label also prints a six-character short code derived from the id, for telling labels apart by eye.

The code contains no bee data and no personal information; it is just a link. Someone who scans it without access is asked to sign in and only sees the hive if they are a member of the tenant that holds it.

Once the app is installed, the link opens the hive from your local database, so it works with no signal.

Printing a label for one hive

1. Open the hive.
2. Tap the QR action (the dotted-square icon next to Edit and Move). A card appears with the code, the hive name and the short code.
3. Tap Print. A clean label opens in a new window and the print dialog follows. SVG downloads the code as a file instead, for your own label layouts.
4. Print onto label stock or plain paper and fix it to the hive.

:::tip Make it last outdoors Print on weatherproof or vinyl label stock, or cover a paper label with clear packing tape or a laminate pouch. Place it where supers being lifted on and off won't scrape it: the side of the brood box or under the roof lip. :::

Printing a sheet for an apiary

1. Open the apiary.
2. Tap QR labels.
3. An A4 sheet opens with one labelled code per hive in that apiary, followed by the print dialog.
4. Print, cut and apply.

Scanning a label

With your phone's camera

Most phones recognise QR codes in the built-in camera app. Point the camera at the label, tap the link that appears, and Openbeehive opens at the hive. This works for anyone with access, without opening the app first.

With the in-app scanner

Scan in the navigation opens Openbeehive's own scanner, useful when you are already in the app and moving between hives.

1. Open Scan and grant camera permission the first time.
2. Aim at the hive's QR code; the hive opens as soon as it is recognised.

On devices whose browser does not support the in-app scanner, the screen says so and suggests the normal camera app instead.

If a scan doesn't open the right hive

Symptom	Likely cause	What to do
Camera won't focus on the code	Wet, faded or curled label	Wipe it dry; reprint if worn
Link opens but says "Hive not found"	Hive was deleted, or belongs to a different tenant	Check the hive still exists and that the right tenant is active
Asks you to sign in	You are not signed in on this device, or the hive is in a tenant you are not a member of	Sign in; ask the tenant admin to invite you
Nothing happens on tap	The phone did not recognise the code as a link	Use the in-app scanner or another QR reader

Access follows tenant membership; see Accounts & tenants.

Reprinting and changing labels

Labels never expire. The link stays valid for the life of the hive record. If you retire a box but keep the colony as the same hive in Openbeehive, the old label keeps working. If you start a fresh hive record, print a new label.

Labels encode the address you printed them from. If your self-hosted instance moves to a new domain, reprint.

caution

Don't move a printed label from one box to another and expect it to point at the new colony; it still opens the original hive. Print a fresh label instead.

Technical details of the link format: QR codes for developers.