>My method is not to number the hives, but to number the queens, so the 
>record card for the queen is the same as the one for the hive she is in at 
>the time. It works for me.

I number both - and run two spreadsheets.  (I should add that the queens do 
not actually carry numbers - they are simply allocated at birth and I know 
if queens are replaced because they are all clipped and marked).  The logic 
is that it is the queen that determines the performance of the colony (so 
she must have a number) and I need to know which hive she is in.

The first spreadsheet is for hive management.  It saves me a great deal of 
time as I always know the situation at the last visit and sometimes may not 
need to inspect.  There is one sheet per apiary and one row per hive showing 
the hive number, queen number and notes on the current situation.

The other spreadsheet is my Stud Book.  It has one sheet per queen (so is 
quite a large file), has a header with her details and rows with scores 
given each time the colony is assessed or honey is taken.  The sheets total 
and average the scores and the front sheet of the workbook is populated with 
a summary of the queens using macros.  Macros and filters are used for 
analysis.

More in this section for anyone interested: 
http://www.stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk/Links.htm#Morphometry

Best wishes

Peter 

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