Appi Bee Services

It's ideal for solo beekeepers running several hundred hives or hobbyists with just a handful. It can also support larger commercial operations (see FAQ below).

We appreciate that folks keep bees for different reasons and there's a variety of different philosophies and approaches.

HiveSmart^HQ supports the end-to-end business processes from maintaining hives through to the sale of honey and/or hives.

In short, using it provides the information needed to save time and improve the productivity of your hives.

Keeping records is key to this - and often required under local/national regulations when selling bee products.

It's available on any mobile device with a web browser - including smartphones and tablets such as iPhones, iPads as well as Android phones and tablets.

Browsers we've used include Safari, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera and Brave (with the default Privacy settings and JavaScript enabled - the default setting).

We've designed things so that you can even operate the web application in more remote locations without internet access*.

* A small number of features require the internet for brief periods e.g. Displaying a map of your Hive Locations (if you've chosen to geotag these), using the Transfer Data option, and purchasing additional Service Credits.

Absolutely! As long as you've got a browser you're good to go (with the default Privacy settings and JavaScript enabled - the default setting).

As per mobile devices, you'll need internet access initially to load the website, but only occasionally after that if you wish to use certain features. e.g. Displaying a map of your Hive Locations (if you've chosen to geotag these), using the Transfer Data option, and purchasing additional Service Credits.

Good question. It's about making HiveSmart^HQ more easily accessible (i.e. on a desktop or laptop as well as mobile devices) and economics.

Website browser capabilities have come a long way (especially since our first app version in 2016) and now offer a much broader range of features, as well as being universally available on computers and mobile devices.

Maintaining a website is simpler, faster and allows us greater control so it makes economic sense too. The resources and costs associated with building and maintaining apps on iOS and Android are continuing to increase driven by Google and Apple - while they continue to take their substantial cut on any revenue at the same time.

Our goal continues to be to provide an affordable management and record-keeping tool for beekeepers.

Enhanced security in more recent browser versions means permission is requested to be able to use certain device features.

The table below shows the permissions related to features in HiveSmart^HQ.

We use these ethically and with full transparency - we're happy to leave the dodgy stuff to others...

Anywhere! HiveSmart^HQ is designed for on-site use. It works even in very remote locations with no phone/data coverage or wifi. (It can operate because it keeps the data on your device rather than requiring a constant internet connection.)

However, we also know some folk prefer not to actively use their device in the field so we've got that covered too - use our forms while in the field and update your device later. Service and Extraction Forms are available on our Tips page.

Note: A couple of features do require Internet access at the time you wish to use them (e.g. Location mapping, Transfer data) and these are flagged in the relevant windows.

Whenever you're device is connected to the internet, use the Transfer Data > Upload dataset feature. (Find this in App Options & Settings.) We recommend doing this each day, if you've added/updated any data in the web application.

Note: This a really wise move in case you lose your device/computer, it's stolen or it breaks, as it keeps your data safe and available for download.

Yes. There are currently two alternatives (recognising that HiveSmart^HQ stores data on the device):

1. Recommended: Use a single (central) device with HiveSmart^HQ to capture operation-wide data using printed Forms to capture the on-site information. Service, Collections and Extraction Forms are available on our Tips page.
2. Alternatively, assign a device for a specific location (or group of locations) to capture the Hive Management data and a separate device specific to the Extraction, Inventory & Sales processes. In this setup, it's not currently possible to track Extraction progress against Harvested boxes or produce operation-wide Views

And if you're an employed beekeeper, you can use it for just the Hives and Locations that you look after.

It requires a whole lot of nothing to get going...

HiveSmart^HQ is free to start and comes with 100 Service credits. Add as many Locations and Hives as you wish, and record Services (inspections) on Hives as needed. After the first Service/inspection recorded for a Hive, each subsequent Service/inspection recorded consumes 1 Service credit.

The initial 100 Service credits provided represents about a years worth of inspections for 5 Hives, or approximately 5 years of inspections for 1 hive (based on 20 inspections per hive per year*). And there is no time limit/restrictions on the use of those credits.

Just maintain the Service credit balance above 0 to keep adding services on an affordable rate of less than $0.10 per Service (inclusive of sales tax).

Various-sized bundles of Service credits (30, 60, 100, 500, or 1,000) can be purchased from within the web application when needed to top up the Service credit balance. The right bundle size for you will depend on how many Hives you operate and how frequently you inspect your Hives*.

Even if the Service Credit balance reaches 0, all features can continue to be used apart from adding more inspections.

The feedback we've received from beekeepers is that HiveSmart^HQ significantly improves day-to-day efficiency, provides valuable information that helps manage your hives - including the traceability/"source-of-origin" records increasingly required in today's food-production world.

We're using Service credits to help keep it free of advertising - i.e. by not having advertising some other revenue source is required to help fund the costs of ongoing development and support.

* Situations may vary depending on the number of Hives being supported, beekeeping style and extent of winter hibernation in your region.

That's easy - our usage-based approach using Service credits is fairer. (See FAQ above that explains Service credits). Why this method is fairer than subscriptions requires some explanation so bear with us...

Firstly, if we offered a subscription it would need to be on some time period (e.g. 12 months) and/or defined groups (e.g. the number of Hives) such as 1-10 Hives, 11-20 Hives and so on. However, grouping like this means that someone with say 11 hives would be paying the same as someone with 20 hives... which just doesn't seem right to us.

Futhermore, subscriptions also stay the same regardless of the season - even when things are quiet over winter and you may use HiveSmart^HQ less, so a time-based approach is also unfair. We also know that there's also significant variation in how frequently individual beekeepers like to inspect their hives.

All this points toward the number of Services (inspections) being the most equitable way to base any pricing.

By not using subscriptions, it means we're able to ensure you'll always have access to your data via the app, even if you decide to not use it for a while, while retaining the balance of any unused Service credits.

Finally, our approach includes continued access to the other features such as Collections, the Equipment Inventory, Action Items, KnowledgeBase and Seasonal Checklists (even if the Service Credit balance reaches 0).

None. No "stings" attached here: it's obligation free - HiveSmart^HQ does not require any personally identifiable information to use it, nor does it access any of your personal info on your device.

Please view our Terms and Privacy Policy for more details.

Nope. While we do use a 3rd-party cloud-storage service to safely store your data if you choose to use the Transfer Data feature, the data is yours and is not shared with, or provided to any third party. Please view our Privacy information for more details.

If you've got more than 10,000 Locations (apiaries) then yes - we're so sorry!

If you've got more than a million Hives, then yes - apologies again, it just can't handle 1,000,001.

On the other hand, it is completely unlimited in terms of the number of Services (inspections) so you can add as many as you need.

It's not a biggie - we just appreciate that beekeepers do more than just observe when they visit their Hives.

"Services" just seems to better reflect all of the activities and effort involved in taking care of your bees.

Yep, you sure can. On the device that you last updated HiveSmart^HQ simply use the Transfer Data > Upload dataset feature (available via App Options & Settings on the menu) to copy your latest dataset to the cloud. Then, on another device access the HiveSmart^HQ website and use the Transfer Data > Download dataset feature to load that latest dataset from the cloud.

When using multiple devices, the key is to upload your dataset daily after changes have been made - this also safeguards your data. Then when you next wish to check things out, first use the download option - this ensures that you'll have the latest dataset on whichever device you're currently using.

There are four options currently provided:

1. Follow our Facebook page (@HiveSmartHQ)
2. Check our Tips page for the Latest News (plus more)
3. Register your email address with us using News Registration (via App Options & Settings).
4. Contact us via one of the options in the Support section below and ask for your email address to be added to our list for HiveSmart^HQ News.