Keeping notes in beekeeping is the most important part because beekeepers don’t have only one hive.
The most important part is to keep track of your hives.
The best way to keep track of your hives is to number them.
Numbering your hives
The best placement of numbers is on the bottom board of your hive (hive floor ).
The Bottom board is the part of the hive that will always be in its place so it is the best place to put your number.
The numbers should be fastened to the board to avoid losing them. Glue won’t withstand harsh weather, causing the numbers to fall.
Color tracking
People also chose to keep track of their hives by coloring them.
This method of keeping track can become confusing as changing or swapping suppers will alter your color tracking.
Some beekeepers paint their hives with colors to make them more visible to the bees.
However, bees cannot see all colors in the same way as humans do.
Bees can see blue-green, blue, violet, and “bee purple.l
Notes
After you have your numbered hives it will be easier to take notes.
What to take notes of?
Every beekeeper has his way with bees and every note is different.
Some of the notes to help maintain your hives vital and happy:
- Varroa count – there are different ways of counting varroa but you should do a varroa count every year.
- Queen bee replacement- It is important to keep track of your queen to know how old is she.
- Varroa treatments, or medication list – it is important to keep your bees happy and healthy.
Nowadays there are applications for your phone that have nice organization options and are very helpful but the problem is when you work in an apiary and your gloves are fully propolized it is easy to get your phone dirty.
The old-school approach of notebook and pen is the perfect solution for inspections.