Record observations as voice notes

Speak your observations right at the colony instead of typing with sticky gloves. The app turns your words into text. Voice notes are available with a package.

Why typing at the apiary does not work

At an open colony you rarely have a hand free. The other one is holding the comb. Your gloves are smeared with propolis, the screen does not respond, and the bees will not wait until you have finished typing.

So you remember the important things and write them down later. Only “later” often turns into “never”, and five colonies become three in your head. An observation you do not record is one you never had.

What is worth speaking

Anything there is no checkbox for. Numbers and standard details are quicker to type than to say, but it is the observations in between that make a hive card valuable:

• “Queen seen, brood nest closed, colony sitting calmly on seven combs”
• “Outer comb mouldy, take it out next time”
• “Noticeably many drones, drone frame not being drawn”
• “Colony next door clearly stronger, add space here later”

Typing sentences like these into a field takes too long at the colony. Spoken, they are captured in seconds.

There again next time

What you speak ends up in the hive card of that colony. At the next inspection you will find what you had planned, instead of only remembering it once the hive is already closed.

Combined with photos in particular, this makes for useful documentation: the photo shows the condition, and the note says what you noticed.