Bee journal

Started by Sydney guy, January 13, 2016, 06:07:18 PM

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Sydney guy

Hi all, I have been told to keep a bee journal for each hive I have. Do others do this? What do I need to write?

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gww

I don't have bees yet but just read a book from 1905 and he kept cards with the lay out of hives he kept in an out yard that he tried to visit as seldom as possible.  He numbered all the hives and carried a card durring his inspections where he wrote what he saw and how he left them.  His first inpection early spring he would write how many frames of brood and weather he moved any or if any of the hive were queenless or needed frames of honey.  which were strong enough that he needed to make splits from on the next visit so he would not get swarming and such.  Each time he inspected he looked back at his last inspection and also recorded his current inspection.  If he added a queen cell, he had a record of when and so on and so on.  I doubt I will keep a journal but the way my memory is, I am sure I will regret that decission.
Good luck
gww

BeeMaster2

I used to write notes on the top of the hive. In about 3 months the writing disappeared. I do not bother any more.  It is nice to be able to look back and see what you have done/observed.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

GSF

I use the 5x9 index cards. Each hive numbered and each card numbered with the respective hive. I also keep a "things to do" card that summarizes my last inspection. An example is when you're queen less and you add a frame of eggs. I date when I should see a queen cell and when it should hatch. Then I date when to look for eggs from that queen.

If I have an exceptional hive I'll note it on the cover card as well. This will be in the "make queens from" line. Just little stuff like that. Or 2 fcb, (frames capped brood) 2f ndo (not drawn out) AST added super today - not to confuse with AS add super.
When the law no longer protects you from the corrupt, but protects the corrupt from you - then you know your nation is doomed.

Michael Bush

It's a great idea.  Much easier to do when you have only a few hives...
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
-------------------
"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin

LKBruns

I have my hives numbered using numbered cattle ear tags.  I have tried keeping notes but with only 5 hives I seldom have anything different to write.  I have one hive that is weaker than the rest but that is because I had a lot of drift when I installed the packages.  It's pretty obvious that it is weaker so I seldom look back at those notes.

I did keep detailed notes since these were the first bees I ever had.  Now that I have an idea of what to expect I will probably keep less detailed notes going forward.  However, this fall I kept notes on how many frames of honey each hive had so I would know which hives had the least stores and I knew how many frames they added in between inspections

superbee

I use a king size permeant marker and write on the back of the hive.  I normally note where hive came from, today's date, number of frames of bees, eggs queen etc and temperament (I am in a spicy bee area).  I repaint in the winter if needed. It works with 100 hives.  I kept better notes when I had less hives and I might do something different if I had more.  I also keep general notes about a certain bee yards in my phone so that I can remember how many hives I have where and roughly how they are doing.  Sometimes a area is not all that great for bees but it takes a while to figure it out.

cao

When I was starting nucs last spring I stuck some of the blue painters tape on the back of the nucs and used a permanent marker.  I did that to keep track if I saw the queen and/or eggs.  That way I knew which nucs had queens that made it back from mating flights.  Its hard to keep track when you have 10-20 nucs sitting all in a row.  Also, the blue painters tape will peel off without much damage to the hive.

KeyLargoBees

LOL "spicy bee area" I love it.
Jeff Wingate

Changes in Latitudes...Changes in Attitudes....are Florida Keys bees more laid back than the rest of the country...only time will tell!!!
[email protected] https://www.facebook.com/piratehatapiary

little john

For a few years now I've kept a "Beekeeping TO DO" file during the season - pretty-much a daily diary. Which has been handy, not only in order to keep a brief record of what I've done to each colony, but it's been a good way of keeping track of what needs to be done in a few days time, (say) when queen-rearing to a strict timetable.

But I now need a system which is far more 'visual', which can give me information 'at a glance' - where a job which HAS to be done on a particular day can be spotted easily and quickly, without firing-up a computer first and trawling through a file.

Right now I'm looking at using a magnetic 'white board', using strips of thin card held on by small magnets. But - it's absolutely essential that it must simplify the operation and save time, and not add to the workload - which I think could be a potential trap, and one which might be easy to fall into.

LJ
A Heretics Guide to Beekeeping - http://heretics-guide.atwebpages.com

KeyLargoBees

I am trying out Hive Tracks...and use the voice recorder on my phone to dictate while in the hives and then enter the data....as I grow the cost goes up so not sure how long this will work for me.  1$ per hive per month to use the software seems trivial for the backyard beekeeper but not sure at what point would I balk at $20-30 or more per month  just for a "notekeeping" program.

As far as writing on the hive....with the tropical weather we get here in the keys and the lack of a real winter or any downtime for the bees writing on the outside of the hives or top covers is impractical....although I do know a beek who uses the blue queen marking pens to write direct on her top covers...she says other colors fade too fast but by the time she fills her cover the oldest writing is gone and she just starts over where the faded writing was.....could be a good use for old queen marking pens once the "color" year is over :-)
Jeff Wingate

Changes in Latitudes...Changes in Attitudes....are Florida Keys bees more laid back than the rest of the country...only time will tell!!!
[email protected] https://www.facebook.com/piratehatapiary

BeeMaster2

Wow, $1 per hive per month. I tried it out when it first came out when it was for free. I guess they thought we would get all of our info on their system and be stuck with it when they started charging. It worked great in town but not at my farm so I quit using it.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

jalentour

I plan to get up to 25 hives this year.  After reading the above comments, I'm going to try a 12 inch 2x4 for each box and a couple of sharpies.
I'll just leave the 2x4 on top of the hive.  I was using bricks in patterns to remind me of what was going on last year but I think I would like better detail. 
The 2x4's are cheap and I have used them as shopping lists for the wood shop for years.

Michael Bush

When I'm doing an outyard, especially, but even my home yard, I barely have time to get the work done before I'm about to faint from heat stroke.  Finding time to make notes on every hive, is more than I have the time or energy to do.  Not so hard with three or four hives, but very hard when you have a lot of them.  I use bricks to keep track of things.  When I need more detail, I have cards with calendars on them (Ready date nuc calendar).
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
-------------------
"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin

yantabulla


Michael Bush

I do write some notes sometimes in that year's queen color.  In five years you can always paint over it...
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
-------------------
"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin

Linda M.

 On one of Michael Palmers videos he put strips of gray duct tape across the top and wrote his notes for that hive on it.

KeyLargoBees

Yanta....do you all write upside down in Australia ;-)

I know its so you can read standing over the hive but I couldn't resist ;-)
Jeff Wingate

Changes in Latitudes...Changes in Attitudes....are Florida Keys bees more laid back than the rest of the country...only time will tell!!!
[email protected] https://www.facebook.com/piratehatapiary

yantabulla

#18
That's right.  Land down under :grin:

Sydney guy

Thanks for all the replies everyone, some very useful information :)

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