Use of Modern Technologies in Beekeeping

[loisl58]

I use an app for my beekeeping diary. Use another app for weather guidance re inspections.

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[Lesgold]

The main app. that I use is my brain. Unfortunately the application is quite dated and is showing signs of its age. If  Les2.1 was available,  I would update in a second.

Cheers

Les

[loisl58]

The main app. that I use is my brain. Unfortunately the application is quite dated and is showing signs of its age. If  Les2.1 was available,  I would update in a second.

Cheers

Les

That is why I use the apps


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[yes2matt]

I think it depends on the technology.  I believe a few of our members use Broodminder, and I think something like that seems very handy, especially for commercial beekeepers who are managing hundreds or thousands of hives.  I feel similarly about a queen finding app.  Not necessary for a hobbyist, but probably a time-saver for someone with many hives, as long as it works well enough to actually be an improvement on a trained eye, which could be questionable. 

We have app developers occasionally come on the forum looking for feedback on new beekeeping apps, and while I appreciate their attempts to help, many of the ideas are simply unnecessary and don't address something that's a real problem for beekeepers.  For example, we had someone a few weeks ago with an app that would help analyze the weather and tell you when to inspect.  Again, not trying to put that person down, but I don't feel like that is something beekeepers need help with.  I think there are areas where technology can be helpful, but at the end of the day, we are dealing with living things here, and nothing will ever replace an old-fashioned inspection.

Yes, I totally agree. Application to find Queen bee, That seems like a good thing to me because it will save our time. Honestly, I write down all the observations in the apiary by hand in my notebook, although I plan to make a table in Google Sheets, which I will use as a beekeeper's diary. It will include the condition of the hives, the age of the queen,the amount of food, the strength of the colony, the date of the inspection, etc. I will share table here.

When you get that Google sheet together, can you figure a way to make it an audio interview, the gadget can ask me a question and I can dictate the answer, so I don't have to gum up my phone.

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[Oldbeavo]

With all of the apps, there is a difference in needs between a professional bee keeper and a hobbyist.
If the app trains you to be a better bee keeper then good, but if the app is too time consuming then the professional will not use it.
Any record system other than write it on the lid requires too much time, i can walk down a row of hives and at a glance see what has happened or the hive i need to inspect eg 3/20 has QC's, check next time.  or 3/20 Q "P", queen is marked pink, usually written on the top of lid.