What to log during a hive inspection
A field-friendly checklist for what to record during every hive inspection so your notes stay useful later.
A hive inspection record only becomes valuable if it helps you make sense of the next visit. That means the note needs to capture the colony's condition, the specific evidence behind that impression, and the action taken while the facts are still fresh.
Extension inspection protocols and beekeeper biosecurity guides are surprisingly aligned on this. They consistently focus on entrance activity, colony strength, nectar and pollen provisions, queen or egg evidence, brood pattern, disease or pest signs, and what action was taken before the hive was closed.
If you're skimming
- A useful inspection note covers what you saw, what you did, and what happens next.
- Start with colony identity, strength, and stores before you get lost in details.
- Queen evidence, brood pattern, and disease or mite signs are core inspection fields.
- If a visit creates a treatment, sample, or recheck, record that before you close the hive.
Start with colony identity and overall condition
Before you get deep into the brood nest, write down which colony you are looking at and what the hive looked like from the outside. Bee Aware specifically recommends assessing entrance activity and keeping a written record of suspicious disease signs. UMass inspection guidance likewise starts with basic colony activity and stores before moving deeper into brood assessment.
These details sound simple, but they are what help you remember later which colony looked light, which one was highly active, and which one already showed signs that something was off before frames were pulled.
- Date, apiary, and hive reference
- Entrance activity and overall colony strength
- Weather or conditions if they materially affected the visit
- Nectar, pollen, honey stores, or feeding status
On the brood frames, log the evidence that explains colony health
Once brood frames are out, record the evidence that tells you whether the colony is healthy and queenright. UMass calls out queen or egg evidence, open and capped brood, brood pattern, and visible disease signs. Bee Aware's code-based guidance goes even further and requires inspection thorough enough to detect pests and diseases by looking through brood frames with the bees shaken off.
Avoid vague wording like seemed weak or looked fine. Instead, note whether the brood pattern was solid or spotty, whether eggs were present, whether larvae looked healthy, and whether you saw queen cells, punctured cappings, chewed-down pupae, or other visible stress signs.
Record actions, mite checks, and follow-up before you close the hive
Many notes fail because they stop at observation. If you conducted an alcohol wash, fed the colony, marked a requeen decision, removed queen cells, or need to re-check brood in a week, that belongs in the inspection entry.
This is where reminders become part of the inspection rather than a separate memory task. The strongest note ends with a concrete outcome: no action needed, treatment started, sample taken, or a visible revisit date tied to the same hive.
Sources and further reading
These are the references behind the piece, plus a few good places to keep reading.
UMass Extension: Veterinary Hive Inspection Protocol
Used for the inspection flow around entrance activity, food stores, queen or eggs, brood pattern, disease sampling, and alcohol washes.
Open source
UMass Extension: Apiary Health Inspection Report
Used for practical inspection note fields such as colony observations, pests and pathogens detected, varroa count, and recommendations.
Open source
Bee Aware: Inspecting hives
Used for practical inspection steps like checking entrance activity, inspecting brood frames, and recording suspected disease.
Open source
Bee Aware: Inspecting hives code requirements
Used for the requirement to inspect brood thoroughly and to monitor arthropod pests with methods like sugar shake, alcohol wash, or drone uncapping.
Open source
Questions readers usually ask
These come up a lot once people start building a record system like this.
What is the most important thing to record during a hive inspection?
Record enough detail to reconstruct colony condition later, especially queen or egg evidence, brood pattern, stores, actions taken, and the next step.
How detailed should hive inspection records be?
Detailed enough to explain what changed and what you did, but not so heavy that you avoid recording at all. A consistent checklist is more valuable than a long narrative written inconsistently.
Should reminders be part of an inspection record?
Yes. A reminder tied to the inspection makes it much easier to follow through on what you found in the hive.
Related reading
If you want to go deeper, these are the next pages worth opening.
Hive inspection app
See how TerraAurelium supports structured inspection records.
Read moreWhat hobbyist beekeepers should track after every inspection
A simplified version of the checklist for smaller apiaries.
Read moreBeekeeping reminders
Keep follow-up tasks connected to inspection findings.
Read moreTerraAurelium App
Download TerraAurelium for a clearer beekeeping workflow
Available now on the Play Store. Get started today with offline-first tools for inspections, records, reminders, and apiary reporting. iPhone users can join the iOS waitlist.