HIVE RECORD BOOK

[rampino]

Hi folks, New Years Resolution: better record keeping! Can I have recommendations of any good, easy-to-use hive record books please. I have to get away from using a tatty excercise book.

 

[Ian123]

Personally I use a brick

 

[jeff33]

Personally I use a brick

Not very handy to write with though!

Why you want to record may dictate the format. I record to help my choice for queen rearing so I pick the traits I will record against. Otherwise I stick duck tape on top of the crown board to see who survives and who doesn't.

 

[Apiarisnt]

https://www.beetight.com/
Not perfect but it is easy, cheap and it works

 

[drdrday]

Have you considered drawing up your own record sheets?
When I was looking for a way to keep records I found that everyone had their own preferred format and none of them really fitted with what I wanted to do. As a novice beekeeper I wanted to record a bit more detail than others and my focus was a little different.
I print my own sheets and just store them in a small ring binder.

 

[gmonag]

Tatty excersise book works just fine.

 

[Bounce]

Have you considered drawing up your own record sheets?
When I was looking for a way to keep records I found that everyone had their own preferred format and none of them really fitted with what I wanted to do. As a novice beekeeper I wanted to record a bit more detail than others and my focus was a little different.
I print my own sheets and just store them in a small ring binder.

Looks very useful - would you consider sharing?

 

[rampino]

drdrday, your record sheets look very professional. I think if you produced them people would buy them. I suppose that making your own is an option, I was thinking of not re-inventing the wheel if there was a good product. I think that I would do a diagram of the brood box frames to show the position of the brood and the stores.

 

[B+.]

Hi folks, New Years Resolution: better record keeping! Can I have recommendations of any good, easy-to-use hive record books please. I have to get away from using a tatty excercise book.

Try this. It works alongside the Coloss recommendations on Queen rearing & bee Breeding

 

[robinharman]

Personally I use a brick

Marking pen on roof.

 

[drdrday]

Looks very useful - would you consider sharing?

Of course, I'm happy to share if it's useful to anyone else. It wouldn't suit everyone, but for me it works as a hobby keeper with just a couple of hives. The pdf prints two copies on one sheet of A4 and I just cut them in half.

 

[jeff33]

Try this. It works alongside the Coloss recommendations on Queen rearing & bee Breeding

View attachment 24609

Crikey, Rampino only has 3 hives Paul!!

To be honest with 3 hives (unless your memory is really, really bad) I would not bother having a thorough record keeping. The only thing worth noting would be how old is your queen, date when new queens are due to emerge in your hives (so you know how long not to open or disturb and when you would expect her to lay), and perhaps weight after feeding going into winter?

 

[domino]

I use these notebooks for years, hardwearing and excellent quality

https://www.leuchtturm1917.co.uk/

 

[rampino]

Rampino has only got two now, one suffered a severe wasp attack at the end of last season. However as I get older my memory gets poorer and I have to write things down to keep track.

 

[Arfermo]

Try this. It works alongside the Coloss recommendations on Queen rearing & bee Breeding

View attachment 24609

Can be modified to suit anybody's needs?

 

[BigAshW]

I've made a spreadsheet on Google sheets. All the sections have drop down menus apart from the general notes one. So it means I can cover my tablet in cling film and use a stylus to keep records on each hive quickly.

As it's a Google app it automatically updates to my Google drive as well so I have a back up.

 

[B+.]

Crikey, Rampino only has 3 hives Paul!!

To be honest with 3 hives (unless your memory is really, really bad) I would not bother having a thorough record keeping. The only thing worth noting would be how old is your queen, date when new queens are due to emerge in your hives (so you know how long not to open or disturb and when you would expect her to lay), and perhaps weight after feeding going into winter?

Yeah - fair point. There's nothing wrong with starting as you mean to go on though.

 

[B+.]

Can be modified to suit anybody's needs?

That is one of the entry screens for the beebreed programme. There is nothing wrong with you printing and using if it's useful but changing the system would have to go through a change control process (unlikely to happen unless there is a very good reason to accept the change).

 

[Cuckmere couple]

i use this which someone kindly posted on here and it does the job

 

[Pabe]

If you want a record card for selecting and improving bees, rather than just management, go to the NatBIP GUIDE on bibba.com for record card to download. Can be used as it is or modified to personal needs. One card per colony.