Hive Inspection Record Card
Build a run of comparable inspections for one colony, so a failing hive can be told apart from a normal one by looking at the page rather than by memory.
BK-01 1 page
Beekeeping · BK-06
Swarm and Queen Cell Record
A free printable swarm and queen cell record — cells seen and their stage, the action taken, swarms collected or lost, and where each one was hived.
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One page. Choose your paper size — both versions are laid out identically, so neither one gets shrunk to fit.
Print it and write on it
Fill it in type and save
The fillable versions have real form fields — open them in any PDF reader, type into them and save. Printing help.
What this sheet is for
Keep a season's swarming history in one place, so a colony that throws cells every year is visible as a pattern rather than remembered as a bad week.
Who it is for
Beekeepers running colonies through a swarming season, swarm collectors, and association apiary managers.
How to use it
- Write a line for every visit where queen cells were found, even if you left them.
- Note the number of cells and their stage in your own terms.
- Say what you actually did, not what you meant to do.
- Record swarms separately — collected or lost — and where each one was hived.
- Carry the new colony's hive number back to your hive register.
What is on the sheet
One page, top to bottom:
Printed under the title: Queen cells seen and what you did about them, swarms collected or lost, and where each one was hived — the season's swarming history for an apiary on a single page.
What you saw and what you did. Queen cells and swarming are read from the colony in front of you, and the right response depends on the hive, the forage and the weather that week. This sheet does not tell you what to do; it records what you saw, what you decided, and how it turned out, which is what makes next season's decisions better.
Write-on lines: Apiary or site · Beekeeper · Season or year
Queen cells and swarms — one line per hive per visit where cells were found
Table, 12 rows: Date · Hive no. · Cells seen · Stage · Action taken · Swarm · Collected / lost · Hived at · Notes
Questions
Why does the sheet not say what to do about queen cells?
Because the right response depends on the colony, the forage, the weather and what you want from that hive, and experienced beekeepers reasonably choose differently. What the sheet can do is hold what you saw and what you chose, so next season's choice is better informed.
Is it worth recording a swarm that got away?
Yes, and it is the entry people skip. A lost swarm tells you the colony was in that state on that date, which is exactly what you want to know when you are reading the page back the following spring.
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