Hello All

I have long pondered the questions raised in attempting to hold beekeeping
records on computer.

To me at any rate, a computer is a more efficient way of keeping records
than is pen and paper. But surely a good computer system must essentially do
what a good manual system has done perhaps for many years.

I believe that it is possible to get totally hung up on database theory and
miss vital facts in designing a system. We talk about what is the core of
the record keeping system. If we see a hive as a series of boxes, each of
which has an identity outside of the hive, I believe that we will get
nowhere in designing a beehive system.

Surely the core item is the hive, a collection of which is a 'yard' or an
apiary.

And should we not have a system which allows us to record in plain English,
what transpires every time we visit a hive. If we attempt to categorise all
of the possible events which can occur when we visit a beehive, I really
feel that we will get ourselves into a data overload situation in which it
will be nearly impossible to figure out what actually happened when we went
to the hive.

I suppose that we could get involved in computerised stock control, as I
tried to do in attempting to have a stock control system of supers etc.
Perhaps in a big operation, that may pay dividends, but in your normal small
operation, the best system of stock control as I have been told many times,
is count the number of items on the shelves.

We can get ourselves into a situation in which it is more difficult to
record what actually happened than to carry out the manipulations on the hives.

So just record, the date, hive no and what happened. key it into Excel or
Access or whatever. But in my opinion, do not create a recording operation
which just creates additional work for the beekeeper.

Maybe the older beekeepers who opened a ledger page for each hive and then
recorded the activities on each hive had the right idea. And perhaps the
best software systems just emulate these manual systems.

Just my views for what they are worth.

Sincerely

Tom Barrett