Overview

The Bee-Man Hive Management Solution contains two software applications:

  • The Bee-Man Desktop application is a Windows application and is used to set up the database and rules, manage yards and hives, record events and produce workplans, reports and labels. The Desktop contains a handheld sync function to transfer information to mobile units.
  • The Bee-Man Mobile application runs on Windows Mobile devices such as the Psion Workabout Pro. It is used to record events on yards and hives in the field and look up current information and past events. RFID, Barcodes or Text ID entry can be used for identification.

This system makes it easy to collect data and report at the Yard and Hive level and co-ordinate the work. It records the time, date and action data of yard and hive actions, diseases and management activities. The scorecard function allows to score hives with up to 8 traits and calculate total scores and averages.

Hives can be moved between yards, Supering, Movement, Wintering, Diseases, Treatments can be tracked. Queens Management and other functions are available as well.

The system is designed to be customized by each beekeeper as needed. Event types and rules can be changed and new ones set up, also the handheld menu and processing can be adjusted as needed.

 

What does Bee-Man do?

The Bee-Man solution supports the beekeeping operation by ...

  • Storing beekeeping records
  • Tracking yards, groups of hives and individual hives
  • Tracking events at the yard, group and hive level
    (including feeding, supering, wintering, damages, diseases, treatments, and many more)
  • Produces reports of all information
  • Produces barrel tags and reports
  • Connects and transfers information from and to optional handheld units
    • Customizable handheld menus and screens
    • Customizable data entry fields
  • Standard and custom business rules, e.g. repeated treatments, withdrawal times
  • Manages a Workplan and Task completion
  • Flags colonies requiring attention
  • Searching and filtering by various criteria
  • Database backups
  • Automated software updates

In summary, the main functions are:

  1. Yard and Hive Setup and Management
  2. Day-to-day Operation and Tracking
  3. Mobile Data Recording and Display
  4. Traceability and Reporting

 

Advantages

  • A database for your yards and hive tracking and more
  • A cost-effective integrated desktop and handheld solution, easy to install and use
  • A rugged "instant on" device for the field: The Psion Workabout Pro
  • Can use RFID Microchip transponder tags, Barcodes or simple Text ID entry

 

Support and Development

The software was designed to be compatible with current Windows computers and Windows Mobile devices and will be maintained for future hardware and software changes. Future developments in software will be available online to Bee-Man users.

The software is currently available in English, and is planned to be made available in French, Spanish and German later.

Further functionality is also being developed, they will likely include Weigh Scale Integration, Queen Breeding, Full Traceability, GPS locations and maps.

Technical support is available to registered users at an annual subscription or with a per incident or hourly rate.