Inspections (visits)
An inspection is the record of a single visit to a hive: what you saw, what you did, and anything worth remembering. Over a season the visits build into a picture of how each colony is developing. Works offline; see Offline & sync.
For what to look for during a visit and how often to inspect, read Inspecting a colony. This page covers how to record it.
Starting a visit
Open a hive (or scan its QR label) and tap Record visit above the visit log. The form opens with today's date.
Every field is optional. A quick "all fine" with nothing else filled in is a valid entry.
Date and weather
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Date | Defaults to today; change it to log a past visit. |
| Weather | Free text, e.g. "sunny, 22°C". |
Colony & behaviour
| Field | What it records |
|---|---|
| Queen seen | Whether you spotted the queen. |
| Eggs seen | The quickest sign of a recently laying queen. |
| Capped brood seen | Whether sealed worker brood is present. |
| Youngest larva | Age in days of the youngest brood stage you found. |
| Occupied frames | How many frames the bees cover. |
| Brood frames | How many frames hold brood. |
| Food stores | Good, Medium, Low or None. |
| Swarm cells | How many queen cells you found. |
| Gentleness | Very gentle, Gentle, Normal, Nervous or Aggressive. |
| Calmness on comb | Runs off comb, Restless, Calm or Very calm. |
| Varroa | Free text for your count, e.g. "3 mites/day". |
| Hive weight | In kg, if you weigh the hive. |
The "eggs seen / youngest larva / capped brood" trio usually confirms a healthy laying queen without finding her each time.
Activities on this visit
| Activity | Records |
|---|---|
| Fed | Amount fed, in kg. |
| Honey harvested | Honey taken on this visit, in kg. |
| Frames added / removed | Frames you put in or took out. |
| Drone frame cut | Whether you cut out a drone brood frame (a varroa control measure). |
| Super added | Whether you added a super. |
For the bigger picture on mite management and harvesting, see Varroa and Honey harvest. Honey you take off for jarring is recorded separately as a harvest, with variety, water content and batch number.
Climate
| Field | Unit |
|---|---|
| Hive temperature | °C |
| Outside temperature | °C |
| Hive humidity | % |
| Outside humidity | % |
All four are optional. Over time they appear in the hive's Development charts alongside weight and colony strength.
A hive scale or climate sensor can post these fields through the API; each reading becomes a visit on the hive and syncs to your devices. See Automated trackers.
Note and photos
Add a free-text note for anything the structured fields do not cover: a marked supersedure cell, a temper that needs watching, a reminder to requeen.
Add photo attaches one or more pictures (brood pattern, suspect disease, queen cells). They are stored with the visit and sync with the rest of your records. If something needs following up, add a task with a due date.
The visit log
Every visit is kept. The hive page shows the five most recent visits, newest first, each summarised as chips; See all N visits opens the full log, and Stock card prints all visits as a table.
The log lets you spot trends: brood building up in spring, stores running down before winter, a rising varroa count. Visits are only ever added, so syncing across devices never overwrites one.
Tips for fast field entry
- Scan the QR label to open the right hive without scrolling.
- Log as you go. Tap fields between frames rather than reconstructing everything afterwards.
- Lean on the quick trio. Eggs seen, youngest larva and capped brood confirm a laying queen faster than hunting her down.
- Keep notes short. Drop a brief note now; expand it at home.
- Leave blanks. Record only what you checked.
- Photograph the doubtful. A picture of an odd brood pattern is worth more than a typed description.
If you suspect a notifiable disease such as American or European foulbrood, photograph it, close up, and follow your local reporting rules. See Diseases & pests.