Tap "Apiaries" from the home screen, then tap the + button. Give your apiary a name and optionally add a location. Your apiary is the top-level container that holds your hives.
When you create or edit an apiary, you can tap the location button to fill in its latitude and longitude using your device's current position. This only happens when you tap that button — the app does not continuously track or update an apiary's location on its own. The coordinates are saved with the apiary and stay put until you update them again. If you decline the location permission, or it's unavailable, you just type the location in yourself — the field works either way.
Tap the Account icon in the top bar and spend two minutes in Preferences — every option can be changed later. Appearance (Light/System/Dark) and Weight Unit (Pounds/Kilograms) are saved on your device only. Keep Screen Awake stops your screen locking while the app is open (it's also on automatically for 15 minutes during active inspection editing, regardless of this setting). Hive Advisor is on by default and reads only the structured fields you fill in, never your notes. Beekeeper Region lets Hive Advisor tune its Varroa mite-wash guidance to your season — leave it unset and the guidance still runs, just at the strictest threshold year-round. Default Frame Capacity suggests a frame count for new boxes. Manage Quick Codes lets you customize the shorthand used by Apiary Batch Quick Inspect and Batch Treatment.
Open an apiary, then tap the + button to add a hive. You can set the hive name, an optional operational number, type (Langstroth, Top Bar, Warre, etc.), colour, and installation date. You can add as many hives as your plan allows.
A new hive starts with no boxes or equipment recorded. After saving, a dialog asks whether to set them up now or skip for now. Either way the hive is created and ready for inspections immediately.
Yes. From an apiary's hive list, tap "Add Multiple Hives" next to the regular Add Hive button. Choose how many hives to create (up to 100 at once), a starting number, and an optional prefix, suffix, and zero-padding. A name pattern using {number} builds each hive's name automatically — "Hive {number}" becomes "Hive 127", "Hive 128", and so on. Set a shared hive type, colour, installation date, and notes once for the whole batch, and optionally attach a starting equipment template; every row, brood box or super, suggests your Default Frame Capacity if you've set one.
A review screen lists every planned hive before anything is saved — a duplicate number or name only warns, it doesn't block. Larger batches save a chunk at a time with an on-screen progress count; if a save is interrupted, the button changes to Retry and continues from where it left off without creating any hive twice.
An optional field, separate from the hive's name, for whatever number you already use in the field — on equipment tags, paper records, or hive stands. Set it on the hive form next to the name, whether you're adding a new hive or editing an existing one; leave it blank if you don't use one.
The hive list shows it as a small "#127" badge next to the name, and the hive detail screen shows it in its own read-only row. Use the hive list's sort button and choose "Sort by number" to order by it explicitly. Entering a number already used by another hive shows a warning so you can catch a typo, but it won't stop you from saving.
Yes. Tap the search icon on an apiary's hive list to open Hive Search. Type part of a hive's name or its operational number and matching hives appear as you type.
The dashboard shows a snapshot of your operation: total apiaries, hives, and inspections. Quick-access tiles let you jump to any section. Tap the Account icon (top right) to access settings, subscription, and team options.
Yes. Bee Inspector is a universal app optimised for both iPhone and iPad, including a full split-view layout on iPad. Download free from the App Store.
Yes — Bee Inspector is available on Android via Google Play. The Android app includes all core features: inspections, queen tracking, treatment tracking, mite counts, harvests, analytics, and offline support.
Yes — the full app is available at my.beeinspector.com and works in Chrome and Edge. Safari is supported with some limitations (voice dictation and NFC are not available on web).
On iPhone and Android, yes, with one important requirement: you must be logged in and have opened the app at least once while connected to the internet before going offline. Once you've done that, inspections and notes will save locally when you're offline and sync automatically to the cloud when connectivity is restored. Attempting to use the app for the first time offline is not supported.
The web app (my.beeinspector.com) needs a connection to sign in and load. After that, any screen you've already opened while online stays available offline from your browser's cache. A screen you haven't opened yet while online, like Queens or Harvest Records if you haven't visited them recently, will look empty until you go back online and view it once.
Yes. Every notes field in Bee Inspector has a microphone button for voice-to-text: apiaries, hives, queens, splits, treatments, harvests, extractions, inspections (including "Today's Inspection Focus"), and Quick Inspect's per-hive and apiary notes. Tap the microphone, speak, and the text appends when you stop talking. Useful when both hands are busy at the hive. Not available on web; voice dictation is a phone/tablet feature.
Navigate to a hive (Apiaries → Apiary → Hive), then tap the + button on the Inspections section. Fill in the date, weather, overall health, brood, stores, queen observations, pests, and any notes.
When you start a new inspection, the form shows a summary of your last visit — key findings, health status, and smart alerts for things to follow up on (e.g. swarm cells, low stores, pest sightings). This helps you know what to look for before you open the hive.
A free-text field at the top of the new inspection form where you can write your plan before opening the hive — e.g. "Check queen status, look for swarm preparations, assess winter stores." It is saved with the record and shown on the detail screen.
Frames of Covered Bees is the number of frames that have a full covering of bees on both sides — a measure of colony population strength.
Frames of Capped Brood is the number of frames containing sealed brood. Strong colonies in spring and summer typically have 6–10+ frames of capped brood. Together these two numbers help you decide when to add a super, split a hive, or assess winter readiness.
Hive Entry Activity describes how busy the entrance is when you arrive — how many bees are flying, returning with pollen, or guarding.
None — no activity; bees may be clustered (winter) or colony may be weak.
Light — low traffic; normal on cool or overcast days.
Moderate — steady traffic; typical for a healthy, active colony.
Heavy — high traffic with many foragers returning; peak nectar flow.
Very Heavy — exceptional traffic; strong colony during a major flow.
Tracking this over time helps you spot seasonal patterns and catch early signs of weakness before opening the hive.
Excellent — colony is thriving, strong population, good brood pattern.
Good — colony is healthy with minor issues.
Fair — some concerns that need monitoring.
Poor — significant problems; take action soon.
Critical — colony is in serious distress; immediate action required.
A mite wash (alcohol wash) counts Varroa mites in a sample of bees. Toggle "Mite Wash Performed" and enter the number of mites counted and the number of bees sampled (minimum 300, taken from the brood area). The app calculates the infestation rate and compares it to the Honey Bee Health Coalition (HBHC) action threshold for your colony's current phase: 1% during Dormant or Population Increase, 2% during Peak Population or Population Decrease. Green means below threshold; red means at or above it, and Hive Advisor will flag it.
You can also record where the sample was taken from (Brood Area, Outer Frame, or Honey Super) and optionally flag any conditions that may affect accuracy — for example, a recent treatment or a recently split colony.
The pin-kill test measures how quickly your colony detects and removes dead or diseased brood — a trait called hygienic behaviour, which is strongly linked to Varroa resistance. To run the test, pin-kill (freeze) a patch of capped brood and return at 6 and 24 hours to count how many cells have been uncapped and cleaned.
Toggle "Pin-Kill Test Performed" and enter the cells killed and cells removed at 6 hours and 24 hours. The app calculates the cleaning percentage for each timepoint. Colonies that clean 80%+ by 24 hours are considered highly hygienic. The 6-hour reading is especially useful for identifying exceptional VSH candidates — colonies that begin removing brood within hours of the test.
The UBeeO test measures hygienic behaviour using a synthetic pheromone spray applied to a section of capped brood — no brood is harmed. Spray the UBeeO mixture onto a marked patch of capped brood, then return after exactly 2 hours and count the cells uncapped by the workers.
Toggle "UBeeO Test Performed" on the inspection form and enter the total capped cells in the sprayed area and the number uncapped at 2 hours. The app calculates the percentage automatically.
Low (0–39%) — limited hygienic response.
Medium (40–59%) — moderate response.
High (60%+) — strong hygienic behaviour; excellent breeding candidate.
The UBeeO score is the 6th trait on the queen score card. The pheromone is available from opterabees.com.
Voice to text — tap the microphone button on the Notes or Today's Focus fields to dictate observations hands-free while you work through the frames. The text is appended automatically when you stop speaking.
Screen stays on — the inspection form keeps your screen active for 15 minutes from your last tap, so it won't lock mid-inspection. If you'd like the entire app to stay awake, enable Keep Screen Awake in Account Settings → Preferences.
Yes. Go to Account → Export Data and tap Download Blank Inspection Form (PDF). The form is a single-page letter-size PDF with a wide left margin for ring-binder hole punching. Use it to record observations at the hive by hand, then enter the data into the app when you're back inside.
On iPhone, the iOS share sheet opens — tap Print to send to an AirPrint printer, or Save to Files to print later. On web, the PDF downloads directly.
"Fed" records that you fed the colony during this visit, and lets you note the feeding type(s) used. "Needs Feed" is a separate flag for the opposite case: you noticed the colony is light and should be fed on a future visit, whether or not you fed it today. They're independent, so a colony can be both fed today and flagged as needing feed again next time.
Not yet. This section describes a feature that is built and tested but not yet included in any released version of the app. It will appear here as available once it ships. The rest of this section is written ahead of that release so the FAQ is ready.
Quick Inspect records a fast, checkbox-and-shorthand inspection for every hive in an apiary in one pass, instead of opening each hive's full inspection form one at a time. Open an apiary and tap Quick Inspect, tap a hive row to expand it, then use the chips or type shorthand codes (like "QS ES L CB") to record what you saw. Only hives with something entered create a record, and you review everything on one screen before anything is saved.
Batch Treatment applies the same treatment to some or all hives in an apiary in one pass. Choose the treatment type, product, method, date, and an optional follow-up date once, then select which hives to include and adjust the dose per hive if needed. A standard treatment record is created for each selected hive.
Yes. Tap the date chip near the top of Quick Inspect (defaults to right now) to set the actual date and time of the inspection — one setting applies to every hive recorded in that batch. This matters if you inspect in the field and jot notes on paper, then enter the batch into the app later: set the real inspection date before saving so your records reflect when you actually looked at the bees, not when you typed it up.
Yes — Temperature and Weather Conditions fields near the top of Quick Inspect auto-fill from your current location when you open the screen, the same as the single-hive Inspection form. Both stay fully editable, and whatever you set applies to every hive in the batch. If you're entering a batch later for an inspection done earlier, update these to match the actual conditions at the time — auto-fill only knows the weather right now.
Yes. Expanding a hive row that has a prior inspection shows a compact summary above the entry fields — the last inspection date, its health rating, and up to two "things to check" cues (e.g. "Swarm cells were present — check if still there") carried over from what was recorded then. This is a lighter version of the same Pre-Inspection Briefing you see on the single-hive Inspection form, sized to fit inside a batch row rather than a full screen.
Each code is a short abbreviation for a specific inspection value: QS for Queen Seen, NF for Needs Feed, PS for Population: Strong, and so on. You can rename any code's label (up to 4 characters, must be unique) from Account → Manage Quick Codes to match shorthand you already use on paper, though what a code records can't be changed. Tap the ? next to the shorthand field to see the current code reference.
Yes. Open the batch's detail screen (via the "Part of batch" link on any record it created) and tap Delete Entire Batch. The confirmation shows the exact count before you confirm, then permanently deletes every record the batch created. It doesn't delete the apiary or its hives, only the records that batch created. If those records included inspections, the affected hives' and the apiary's Last Inspection Date update to reflect what's left.
On a shared team account, that hive is skipped and named in the save confirmation — the rest of the batch still saves normally.
Open a hive and tap the Queen section, then tap + to add a queen record. You can track the queen's origin, colour marking, laying status, introduction date, and whether she has been marked.
Each queen is rated across up to eight traits — brood pattern, temperament, honey production, mite wash results, pin-kill hygienic behaviour, UBeeO pheromone test, Harbo/VSH score, and treatment-free mite resistance. Each trait scores 1–5 and an overall score is calculated from whichever traits have recorded data. Traits with no data are excluded from the score rather than counting as zero.
Laying — queen is actively laying eggs.
Present – not confirmed — queen was seen but laying was not verified.
Not seen — queen was not found during the inspection.
Superseded — colony replaced the queen naturally.
Swarmed — colony has swarmed; queen may have left.
Failed — queen is no longer productive.
The most recent status is shown on the queen card and the hive detail screen. The full observation history is available in the Observation History section on the hive detail screen.
Queen cells are capped cells used to raise a new queen. Swarm cells are typically built along the bottom of frames and signal the colony is preparing to swarm. Supersedure cells are usually built in the middle of frames and mean the colony intends to replace the existing queen.
When recording any queen cell type, a follow-up question appears: Charged (contain egg or larva). This is an important distinction — colonies routinely build empty queen cups as a precaution, which is completely normal. A cell only becomes significant when it is charged, meaning it contains an egg or young larva, signalling the colony is actively preparing to raise a new queen. Toggle Charged on if you can see a developing egg or larva inside any of the cells.
Yes. Both lists have a sort button in the top-right corner of the screen.
Hive list (inside an apiary) — sort by Name (default, numeric-aware; an operational number never changes this order), Number (hives with an operational number first, lowest first, then falling back to name), or Last Inspection (most recently inspected first; never-inspected hives at the bottom).
Queen list (Queens screen) — sort by Name (default), Hive Name (groups queens by their current hive), or Queen Score (highest composite score first — the same score shown on each queen's score card tile; useful before a grafting session to surface your best overall candidates immediately).
Name sorts are numeric-aware, so "Hive 2" sorts before "Hive 10".
The Harbo Score (0–4) rates a queen's Varroa Sensitive Hygiene (VSH) based on brood examination, following the method developed by Dr. John Harbo at the USDA Baton Rouge lab. Higher scores indicate a stronger tendency to detect and remove mite-infested brood.
0 — No hygienic response observed.
1 — Minimal response.
2 — Moderate response.
3 — Good response.
4 — Exceptional — strong VSH candidate.
On the queen record, toggle "Harbo Score" and set the value with the slider — or enter raw brood counts (Reproductive Mites Found and Cells Inspected) and the score is calculated automatically: 0% reproductive mites = 4, ≤5% = 3, ≤15% = 2, ≤25% = 1, >25% = 0.
The score appears on the queen card and is used in grafting candidate evaluation.
The VSH Worker Score (0–4) captures the hygienic behaviour score measured from the queen's worker offspring — separate from the Harbo brood inspection score. It should be assessed after the colony has had at least 7 weeks to express the trait through their workers.
The Sample Data field records the raw counts in the format used by the USDA VSH programme: Removed / Non-removed / Non-viable out of total cells inspected (e.g. "12,2,1/100"). This preserves the full dataset for breeding records.
You can also record the date the VSH assessment was completed.
Marking a queen as a Grafting Candidate flags her as a potential breeder — a queen whose traits (Harbo Score, VSH Worker Score, temperament, and hygienic behaviour) make her worth selecting for a grafting programme. Toggle this on the queen record when she meets your criteria.
Grafting Candidate queens are highlighted in the Queen list for easy identification and will be available as breeder selections in the companion Queen Grafting app.
On the queen record, expand the Lineage section and select an Origin Method to describe how the queen came into the hive:
Emergency (Donor Frame) — bees raised a queen from eggs or young larvae provided on a donated frame from another hive.
Queen Cell Transfer — a capped queen cell was moved from another hive directly into this one.
Grafted — raised via a grafting programme (larvae were grafted into queen cups).
Purchased — bought from a supplier, breeder, or nucleus seller.
Swarm — came with a captured swarm; mother queen's identity unknown.
Hive Split — emerged from existing brood when the colony was split.
Unknown — origin not recorded.
You can also record where the queen was sourced in the Where Acquired field — useful for tracking supplier performance over time.
Yes — this is the core of queen lineage tracking. When the Origin Method is set to Emergency, Queen Cell Transfer, Grafted, or Hive Split, a Mother Queen field appears on the queen record. Tap it to search your queen list and select the queen whose eggs or larvae were used to raise this one.
The app records the mother queen's name and the hive she came from. Once linked, the mother queen and her source hive are shown on the daughter queen's detail card and in the queen list — letting you trace genetic lines across multiple generations and hives.
This is particularly valuable for breeders running a VSH or hygienic behaviour selection programme, where tracking which queens produced the best offspring is essential for making good grafting decisions.
This is the 8th trait on the queen score card — it measures how well a colony manages Varroa without chemical treatment.
If any Varroa treatments (Oxalic Acid, Formic Acid, ApiVar, etc.) have been recorded for the hive — from either the Treatments section or an inspection — the trait shows N/A and is excluded from the overall score.
If no Varroa treatments are recorded, the score is based on average mite wash counts: 0 mites = 5 stars, 1–3 mites = 4 stars, 4–6 mites = 3 stars, 7–9 mites = 2 stars, 10+ mites = 1 star. Mite wash data must be recorded before this trait can be scored.
Marking a hive as inactive records that the colony has ended (e.g. colony died, absconded, sold, combined with another hive) without permanently deleting the hive. All historical inspections, harvests, and queen records are preserved for analytics.
Open the hive detail screen, tap the ⋮ menu in the top right, and choose "Mark as Inactive". A picker will appear with the reason (e.g. Colony died, Absconded, Sold, Winter loss, etc.). Select a reason and confirm. The hive will no longer appear in the active hive list.
On the hive list screen for an apiary, use the segmented filter at the top (Active / Inactive / All) and tap "Inactive" to see inactive hives. Open the hive — an amber banner shows the inactive reason and date. Tap "Reactivate" to return it to active status.
Yes. Inspections, harvests, and queen records from inactive hives are included in all historical analytics and exports. The hive count on the dashboard reflects only active hives.
It sits below the Supers section on every hive detail screen and tracks how many boxes are currently on the hive by role, size, and frame capacity, with dated history. It has no concept of an individual box's identity. That's what the Supers section above it is for, which now shows historical records only.
Role is Brood Box or Super. Size is Shallow, Medium, Deep, Other, or Unspecified. Either role can be any size, so a medium brood box and a medium super are counted separately. Unspecified is a real, selectable size for legacy boxes predating size tracking. Use Classify Equipment to move a count out of it once you know the true size. Frame Capacity is optional: leave it blank for equipment whose capacity you haven't recorded, and it's tracked as "Unknown frames" until you correct it.
Current Configuration shows a chip per role/size/capacity combination with a nonzero count, for example "Deep · 10-frame: 2". Configuration History below it lists every change with its date, quantity, and reason.
Tap Add on the Boxes / Equipment Configuration card. Choose the Box Role, Box Size, and optionally the Frame Capacity, then choose Add, Remove, or Set Total. Set Total is for correcting a count directly: enter the true number and Bee Inspector works out the add or remove for you. Enter the quantity, set the effective date, optionally add a reason and notes, then save.
When you add a box, brood box or super, the Frame Capacity field pre-fills — first from the hive's own unambiguous capacity if it already has one recorded elsewhere for that role, otherwise from your Default Frame Capacity account setting if you've set one. Either way it's still fully editable. If what you enter doesn't match anything else already on the hive, a "Mixed Frame Capacity" warning asks you to confirm before saving — apiaries with mixed box sizes are expected, not an error.
To remove a box without typing its role, size, and capacity from scratch, tap Remove instead. It lists everything currently recorded on the hive, and tapping one opens the same sheet pre-filled to Remove for that exact box.
Tap Classify on the Boxes / Equipment Configuration card. Pick the box to correct as "From", choose the correct role, size, and frame capacity as "To", and enter the quantity to move. This shifts that quantity between the two combinations without changing the hive's overall total. Useful for reclassifying a box entered as a Super into a Brood Box, or giving an "Unknown frames" box its real capacity once you know it.
Yes — Account → Preferences → Default Frame Capacity. Tap the 8-frame or 10-frame chip for a standard Langstroth box, or type any other number — useful if you run top bar or horizontal hives, which typically hold far more frames. It affects the suggestion shown when adding either a brood box or a super to a hive that doesn't already have its own frame capacity pattern recorded for that role, and when building a bulk hive creation equipment template. It never overrides an existing pattern, and is always editable in the moment, so an apiary with a mix of box sizes still works exactly as before.
Open the hive you are splitting, scroll to the "Hive History" section, and tap "Record Split". The split wizard will ask you to fill in: split date, name for the new hive, new hive type, number of frames moved, where the queen goes, an "Equipment to Move" step for choosing which brood boxes or supers (if any) go with the new hive, and optional notes. Tap "Record Split" to confirm. The new hive is created in the same apiary and a split entry is added to the source hive's history timeline.
A "Hive Created" dialog appears next, the same one shown when adding a hive from the Hives screen: choose "Set Up Boxes / Equipment" to go straight to the new hive's configuration card, or "Skip for now" to return to the source hive.
The source hive keeps its name and all inspection records. Its equipment stays put unless you explicitly chose to move some in the "Equipment to Move" step; nothing moves by default. The frame count is left unchanged; if you backfill with empty frames, update it manually on the hive edit screen. The split is recorded as a divider event in the hive history timeline.
Queen stays on source hive — the frames moved to the new hive contain brood and young bees; the colony will raise a new queen from those frames. The queen record remains on the source hive.
Queen moves to new hive — the queen physically moves with the frames of brood to the new hive. Her queen record is transferred automatically. The source hive is now queenless and will need to raise a new queen or have one introduced.
There is no one-tap undo, but you can reverse the steps manually: delete the new hive (only if it has no meaningful data yet), and if the queen was moved, use "Move Queen" to transfer her back first. The split event entry in the source hive's history timeline cannot currently be removed, but it does not affect inspections or data.
Adding bigger equipment to an existing colony (same bees, same queen) doesn't go through "Combine / Move" at all. To add the new box: open the hive, find the "Boxes / Equipment Configuration" card, tap Add, and pick the role, size, and frame capacity. That's the same workflow you use any time you add, remove, or correct equipment. To rename the hive or change its type (for example, once a nuc graduates to a full hive name), tap the pencil icon on the hive detail screen to open Edit Hive. Either way, all inspection history stays under the same hive.
Open the hive that will be absorbed (e.g. your nucleus), scroll to "Hive History", and tap "Combine / Move". This goes straight into the combine wizard. Select the destination hive and decide what to do with the queen. Then choose an Equipment Disposition: leave the source hive's equipment recorded on it (the default), or move some or all of it to the destination. Tap "Combine Hives" to finish. The source hive is marked inactive with reason "Combined with another hive" and all its history is preserved.
Move queen to destination — use this when the destination hive is queenless and the nucleus queen will take over. The queen record is transferred to the destination hive.
Leave queen on source — use this when the destination hive already has a queen and the nucleus queen will be lost or removed during the combine (e.g. newspaper method). The queen record stays on the now-inactive source hive for historical reference.
NTAG215 NFC stickers can be attached to your hive boxes. Tapping the tag with your phone opens that hive directly in Bee Inspector — no searching or scrolling needed. If the hive name on the tag doesn't match any hive yet, Bee Inspector offers to create one. Works on iPhone (7 or later, iOS 13+) and most modern Android phones with NFC — not available in the web version.
Use a free NFC writing app to program the tag before attaching it. Write a plain Text record containing the hive name exactly as it appears in Bee Inspector — for example Hive 1. Then write the record to an NTAG215 sticker and attach it to your hive box.
Recommended free apps (available on both App Store and Google Play):
NFC Tools by wakdev — simple and widely used on both platforms.
NFC TagWriter by NXP — made by the chip manufacturer; very reliable.
Simply NFC (iOS only) — clean, beginner-friendly interface.
From the Bee Inspector home screen, tap the NFC button in the top right corner. Hold your phone near the tag and the app reads the hive name and opens it directly.
iPhone: hold the top of the phone (near the camera) close to the tag.
Android: hold the middle or back of the phone close to the tag. NFC must be enabled in Android Settings.
iPhone: NFC requires a physical device (iPhone 7 or later). Make sure NFC isn't blocked in iOS Settings. Hold the top third of the phone near the tag.
Android: confirm NFC is turned on — go to Settings → Connected devices (or Similar) → NFC and enable it. Hold the middle or back of the phone against the tag. Some phone cases block NFC signals; try removing the case.
Both platforms: the hive name on the tag must match what you named the hive in the app (not case-sensitive). Re-program the tag if the name changed.
Hive Advisor is a built-in suggestion engine that reads the structured data you record — the same fields you fill in yourself, never your free-text notes — and flags issues worth acting on: swarm preparations, queen problems, high mite counts, low stores, pests, and overdue inspections. Most suggestions come from the inspection you just recorded; some come from patterns across your last several inspections and your treatment history, like a declining brood pattern trend or mites that didn't drop after a treatment. Both kinds run automatically, with nothing separate to turn on.
All Hive Advisor features are free for every Bee Inspector account.
Two places:
Yes. The Hive Advisor card on the hive overview screen always reflects your most recent inspection's current data, so if you go back and fill in something you left blank, or correct a value, the card updates to match. For example, if you forgot to record a mite wash and add it later, a mite warning can appear that wasn't there before, or a warning that was there can go away. This applies to any of your last several inspections, not just the most recent one, since some suggestions look at trends across that history.
The slide-up panel is different: it only appears right after recording a new inspection, not after editing an existing one.
Hive Advisor watches six categories:
Tap the X on any suggestion card to dismiss it. The dismissal is synced to your account so it persists across devices. Dismissed suggestions will not reappear for that specific inspection. If the same issue is still present in your next inspection, Hive Advisor will flag it again.
Go to Account → Preferences → Beekeeper Region. Choose the option that best matches where you keep your bees:
Your region lets Hive Advisor's Varroa mite-wash guidance adjust its action threshold to your actual season. Leave it unset and that guidance still runs; it just uses the strictest, earliest-warning threshold year-round instead of one tuned to your season.
Yes. Go to Account → Preferences and toggle off Hive Advisor. Suggestions will no longer appear after inspections or on the hive overview. You can turn it back on at any time.
A few things suppress rules to avoid noise:
Go to Account → Preferences → Appearance. Choose Light, System (follows your device's system setting), or Dark mode. Your preference is saved automatically on this device.
Go to Account → Preferences → Weight Unit and choose Pounds (lbs) or Kilograms (kg). This changes how Bee Inspector displays honey weights in Harvest Records, Extractions, and Analytics, no matter what unit you originally used to enter a record.
You still pick lbs, kg, or frames when recording a harvest or extraction, so you can enter a number straight off whatever scale you're using. Bee Inspector converts and stores it, then shows it back to you in your Weight Unit preference. Frame counts stay as frames, since they aren't a weight, but the estimated weight they add to your totals still converts.
This setting lives on your device and defaults to Pounds.
When enabled, this setting prevents your device screen from locking while Bee Inspector is open — even if you haven't touched it. This is especially useful for beekeepers working with gloves or a veil, where unlocking the phone mid-inspection is awkward. Enable it before heading to the apiary so you can walk between hives without losing the screen. Find the toggle in Account → Preferences → Keep Screen Awake.
After you have recorded 10 or more inspections, the app will occasionally invite you to rate it on the App Store or Google Play. The prompt is shown at most once per year and uses the standard Apple or Google rating sheet — your data stays private and nothing is shared without your consent.
If you dismiss the dialog, the app will not ask again until the following year. Rating the app helps other beekeepers discover it and supports future development.
Go to Account (top right of home screen) and scroll to the bottom. "Sign Out" returns you to the login screen. Nothing is changed or deleted.
"Delete Account" is permanent. It erases your apiaries, hives, inspections, queen records, notes, and harvest records, along with your login itself. You'll be asked to confirm what will be deleted and then re-enter your password before it proceeds. There is no way to recover this data afterward.
Deleting your account does not cancel an active Apple or Google subscription. Cancel it separately in Settings → [your name] → Subscriptions on iPhone/iPad, or in the Google Play Store → Subscriptions on Android — otherwise billing will continue.
The account owner can generate an invite code from Account → Team. Share this code with co-beekeepers. When they enter the code in their app, they see all the same apiaries, hives, and inspections as the owner. All data is stored under the owner's account.
Yes. Team members have full read and write access to the shared account data — they can add inspections, notes, harvests, and more.
Go to Account → Team, then tap "Leave Team" at the bottom. You will return to your own standalone account. Any data you added while in the team will remain under the owner's account.
Yes — the core features are free. The Free plan includes 1 apiary and up to 3 hives with no charge and no credit card required. Pro subscription plans unlock additional hives and features for larger operations.
Free — 1 apiary, up to 3 hives. No charge.
Hobbyist — unlimited apiaries, up to 20 hives. $19.99/year.
Beekeeper — unlimited apiaries, up to 50 hives. $34.99/year.
Professional — unlimited apiaries, up to 100 hives. $49.99/year.
All plans include full access to inspections, queens, notes, harvests, analytics, NFC, and exports.
Go to Account → Subscription and tap Upgrade. You can also tap the plan badge on the home dashboard to jump straight to the subscription screen.
To restore a previous purchase after reinstalling or switching devices, tap Restore Purchases on the Subscription screen or on the upgrade paywall. It works the same way on iPhone and Android — it checks the store account you're signed into and re-applies any matching purchase. It needs to be tapped manually; purchases don't reattach on their own, and it isn't available in the web version.
iPhone / iPad: purchases are processed through Apple and can be managed in iOS Settings → [your name] → Subscriptions.
Android: purchases are processed through Google Play and managed in the Google Play Store → Subscriptions.
This was a known display issue fixed in version 1.6.0. The plan badge now stays hidden until your subscription status has fully loaded from the server, so it only ever shows your correct plan.
When creating or editing a note, tap the Reminder Date field and pick a date and time. The app will send a local notification at that time. Tap the notification to open the Notes list.
First confirm the reminder date and time were set correctly, and check that the note hasn't been marked complete (which cancels the reminder).
iPhone / iPad: go to iOS Settings → Notifications → Bee Inspector and ensure notifications are allowed.
Android: go to Settings → Apps → Bee Inspector → Notifications and ensure notifications are enabled. On Android 13 and later, notification permission must be granted explicitly when the app first requests it.
Open a hive and tap "Harvest" (its context is already filled in), or tap "Harvests" from the home screen and tap + to select an apiary and then a hive. Enter the overall quantity and unit (lbs, kg, or frames), honey type, grade, and optionally moisture content. If the unit is frames, the quantity you enter is the frame count, so you're not asked to enter it twice. The harvest list shows your total weight across all records, displayed in your Account → Preferences → Weight Unit preference.
Grade A — premium quality honey.
Grade B — good quality, minor colour or flavour variation.
Grade C — acceptable quality.
Ungraded — not formally assessed.
Turn on "Remove harvested boxes from hive" once you've selected a hive. If that hive still has individually tracked supers, you'll see a checklist of the actual supers, oldest-added first. Otherwise you'll see a quantity picker per equipment type, capped at what's currently on the hive. Either way the removal is recorded with the equipment's real frame capacity. After saving, if you removed anything, you can immediately add a matching replacement (an empty super back on the hive, for example) with reason "Replaced after harvest".
A harvest record is about what came off a hive, recorded the day you pull boxes. An Extraction is about what actually came out of the extractor, which is often measured later and may combine frames from more than one hive. From the Harvests screen, tap the flask icon to open "Record Extraction". Select one or more harvests that haven't been included in an extraction yet, enter the actual weight your scale shows, confirm the honey variety, and save.
A measured extraction weight is only credited back to a specific hive's productivity history when every harvest in that extraction came from the same hive. Once it pools frames from more than one hive, each hive keeps its own estimated yield for tracking productivity over time.
Tap the receipt icon in the Harvests screen's top bar to see every recorded extraction: date, actual weight, honey type, and which harvests contributed to it. The Harvest Records summary card also shows a running "Extracted" total across every recorded extraction, alongside Total Harvests and Total Weight.
Open a hive and tap the Treatments section, then tap +. Select the treatment type (Oxalic Acid, ApiVar, Formic Acid, etc.), the pest being targeted, the treatment date, and optionally the product used, application method, dose, a follow-up date, and notes.
You can also record a treatment during an inspection — any treatment entered in the "Treatment Applied" field on the inspection form is automatically added to the hive's Treatments section as well, though the product/method/dose/follow-up fields are only available on the Treatments section's own form.
The treatment list includes: ApiGuard, ApiLife Var, ApiVar, Formic Acid, HopGuard, Norroa, Oxalic Acid, Verroxsan, and Other. If you use a product not in the list, select Other and add details in the notes field. The Pest Targeted field lets you record whether the treatment is for Varroa Mites, Small Hive Beetle, Wax Moths, Ants, or Other.
Yes. Any treatment entered on the inspection form is automatically synchronised to the hive's Treatments section. If you later edit or delete the inspection, the linked treatment record is updated or removed to match. All treatments are visible in one place regardless of how they were entered.
The queen score card checks all treatment records for the hive. If any Varroa-targeted treatment is found, the "Treatment-Free Resistance" trait is automatically marked N/A and excluded from the overall score. This applies whether the treatment was entered on the Treatments section or recorded through an inspection.
Go to Account (top right of home screen) → Export Data. Choose which data to include (inspections, queens, notes, and/or treatments), select an apiary or hive filter, set a date range, and choose CSV or PDF format.
On iPhone and Android the system share sheet opens — you can save to Files, share via email, AirDrop, or any other app. On web the file downloads directly to your browser's downloads folder.
Inspection rows include apiary, hive, date, inspector, health rating, population, frames covered, queen/eggs/larvae/queen-cell/swarm-cell sightings, pest and treatment applied, feeding, mite count, UBeeO %, temperature, weather, and notes. Queen rows include marking, year, breed, status, introduction/removal dates, Harbo Score details, grafting candidate flag, and where acquired. Note rows include title, type, category, priority, completion status, reminder date, and content. Treatment rows are included when you select them, with date, product, and pest targeted. All CSVs can be opened in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets. Harvest records are not currently included in either export.
The PDF starts with a header showing your filter criteria and the date generated, followed by a section for each category you selected (Inspections, Queens, Notes, and Treatments) with full detail for each record. Useful for sharing with mentors or keeping printed records. Harvest records are not currently included.
Use the report dropdown to choose from five reports: Apiary Overview (hive counts, production, and average health per apiary), Hive History (inspection frequency, a health score trend chart, and common issues across your date range), Queen History (queen counts by status and a performance table), Honey Production (harvest totals by day), and Treatments (treatment history across all hives). Use the date range picker to narrow the results.
Yes. Historical data from inactive hives — inspections, harvests, and queen records — is always included in analytics and exports. This is the main reason to mark a hive inactive rather than deleting it.
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