Hive Tracks turns two

[mhenson]

hive tracks map.jpg

I just love the way Maryam Henein (producer - “Vanishing of the Bees”) keeps hammering away with her message. Simple, direct, unwavering. I’m like that too. Hive Tracks is my life’s work. We get praise… we get complaints but we keep on going. Hive Tracks will be 2 years old in August. Today it’s faster, has more features and is used by thousands of beekeepers. When it comes to FREE software like this, it’s hard to take the complaints sometimes but we understand. It’s hard for us too. If I could just stop making a living and starting simply living I would work on it day and night. I would address every request we ever got. But life ain’t like that. We add what we can, we respond to e-mails, we fix bugs, we move on. Please give Hive Tracks another try. Use it only for the stuff you need if only to know when your hives were re-queened or to see our way cool Google map, showing the area your bees forage… just use it and see what it can add to your quiver of knowledge.

[Andrew Dewey]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for all your work with Hive Tracks. I gather data is stored "in the cloud." As an old time dBase programmer (actually started with Foxbase) I'm not comfortable with data stored anywhere but locally, or in other words under my physical control.

[mhenson]

I understand. I've been developing software for over 25 years myself, since the first Mac in 1984. Computers were incredible useful then but just think what a difference the Internet has made. Imagine a world where every single user was isolated from every other user. You could use your computer to play games, do spreadsheets and write letters but that was it. It’s the cloud that makes this conversation possible. I understand the imperative of privacy. Just like banks, hospitals and HR departments, we all share the risks and rewards of cloud computing.

[LtlWilli]

Mark----Thanks for all your hard work. I currently use Hive Tracks and love it.
The site does quite a lot.

[Beeman410]

Hey Mark,
You have done an incredible job with hive tracks!!! I just wanted to say thank you!!!
I have a couple ideas which are probably not new but id love to see.
1. a mobile app that interfaces hive tracks.
2. This would be for beekeepers with scale hives. A line graph/ chart that we could use to input daily / weekly weight measurements which would allow us to track the progress of a flow and compare it to prior years...
i know honeybee net has something like this but id love to see it on hive tracks.

[mhenson]

Hey Mark,
You have done an incredible job with hive tracks!!! I just wanted to say thank you!!!
I have a couple ideas which are probably not new but id love to see.
1. a mobile app that interfaces hive tracks.
2. This would be for beekeepers with scale hives. A line graph/ chart that we could use to input daily / weekly weight measurements which would allow us to track the progress of a flow and compare it to prior years...
i know honeybee net has something like this but id love to see it on hive tracks.

Mobile app is aaaaalmost ready. We've had a hard time getting this done and we've had a few false starts but this time, I've seen it and its real and it works. A week or so away I hope. We'll send and e-mail when its ready to beta test.

[T0ADMAN]

I'm going to check it out now. I've been looking for a good method of record keeping.

A mobile app would be great. Also if there is a way to access/update without online access even if it syncs later that will be good. I suspect many yards are in Internet unfriendly locations.

I hope this is my record keeping answer. Be sure to let us know when the mobile app is ready.

[G Barnett]

Just created an account and sent you a donation. I am so glad you made a post this morning. This is just what I have been looking for. As a new bee, I needed a tech way to keep records and info.
Thanks so much.
Have a great day!
GB

[mhenson]

Welcome GB! To Hive Tracks and to beekeeping in general. Get ready for a great ride!

[namboy]

How secure is our hive location info? I wouldn't want the location of remote hives public. We have a lot of Ukrainian's out here and they consider hive stealing to be great sport. (like sheep stealing was to the highland Scots.)

[G Barnett]

Thanks for the welcome.
Is there anyway to edit the long/lat coordinates? Using the zip code setting, puts my map about a mile away from my actual location.
Keep up the good work.
GB

[bison]

I just set up an account to try it out - thanks!
I don't see how to select a nuc as a hive component - is this possible?

[briangutz]

Thanks for the welcome.
Is there anyway to edit the long/lat coordinates? Using the zip code setting, puts my map about a mile away from my actual location.
Keep up the good work.
GB

Go to my yard tab, click on the name of your yard, then click on the tab Yard Information. You should be able to adjust the Lat/Long info. Hope this helps!

[G Barnett]

Thanks for the welcome.
Is there anyway to edit the long/lat coordinates? Using the zip code setting, puts my map about a mile away from my actual location.
Keep up the good work.
GB

Works a bit different on my iPad vs the desktop PC. I was able to modify coordinates.
Thanks

[Greensasquatch]

Created a hive tracks account a few weeks ago. Would love to see more options for tracking such as drawn combs, and possibly an option for an external inspection (different/less indepth).

Options for specifying hive type, tracking by hive vs tracking by queen (for splits / swarms) would be great at some time in the future as well.

The interface can be a bit difficult to get used to. Might be difficult to get people to use a cumbersome interface. For those of us who have done database programming, or used computer before windows 98 it is a logical approach, for others it's confusing.

Can anyone see my hive locations on the shared map? Can I hide or make less accurate my actual apiary site coordinates? I like being able to see that other apiaries are nearby but I don't want people to know too closely the exact location of my equipment.

I don't mean to criticise too much here, I know you put a lot of work into it and it is a great tool, I'll be using it even more when the mobile app comes out.

Keep up the great work.

[mhenson]

Use "My Map" to change lat/lon automatically. Just drag the yard pin to the exact location of the yard then click "Save". We have all the features of Google maps so you can show terrain, roads and zoom in deep to move a yard to within a few feet of the right spot. As for security, when one shares a yard, all we do is show a pin in the shared map; nothing about the hives, yard names or anything else is exposed. It just gives users a chance to see if other yards are nearby. We're very, very strict about yard locations, to appear in the shared map you must opt in, and you can opt out at any time.

[cjisler]

Got my first two hives about 7 weeks ago and I'm glad Hive Tracks was available for me to start my record keeping. I'm happy to grow with you. -Carol

[mhenson]

[sfisher]

I use Hive Tracks and love it, thanks Mark

[theriverhawk]

Mark,
I love it. My father, a 40+ year beekeeper, marveled at it when I showed him how I use it. Thanks for your hard work on this!!

Would love to see a nuc box instead of a normal brood box on the hive builder. Other than that, I love it!!!