Hive Record Card
Lexikon
The hive record card is the record kept for a single bee colony.
The hive record card is the record kept for a single bee colony. It notes the colony's condition and observations as well as all beekeeping work over the course of the year. Its value lies in comparison: anyone who keeps notes over several years can see which colonies develop well, which queen is convincing, and when which work is due at their own site. Without records you rely on memory, and with several colonies that quickly proves deceptive.
Beyond the mere running of the operation, there is a legal duty to keep records. Bees are food-producing animals, so keepers must keep a record of the medicines used, including over-the-counter ones. The legal basis is Article 108 of Regulation (EU) 2019/6 and the German Ordinance on the Use and Documentation of Medicines by Animal Keepers. This colony register requires, among other things, the date of first administration, the name and quantity of the medicine, the name and address of the supplier, the proof of purchase, the identity of the animal, that is, the number of the colony, the name of the veterinarian where applicable, the withdrawal period even if it is zero, and the duration of treatment. Records and proofs of purchase must be kept for five years and presented to the authority on request. Keeping them electronically is permitted as long as the data are readable at all times and cannot be altered.
In practice this affects almost every beekeeper, because under Section 15 of the Bee Disease Ordinance colonies must be treated against varroosis every year. This regularly results in an application that must be documented. Official forms are designed exactly for this and provide columns for each colony and each site.
Two points are often confused. First, the hive record card is not automatically a colony register: it can also cover the mandatory information, but then it must really contain all the required fields. Second, the information belongs in the record promptly and should not be reconstructed from memory at the end of the year.