# Free On-Line Bee Hive Tracking and Recording



## Brooklyn (Nov 14, 2009)

I have never used that program but I will try it out.
This is the one I use http://apimo.dk/ It is free also.

Brooklyn


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## magista (Jun 1, 2009)

Pretty cool. I signed up for the freebie to check it out.


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## bigbearomaha (Sep 3, 2009)

It looks interesting.

To me though, tracking activity in hives etc.. is something I don't trust to online support. If the hosted server has a bad mysql database day ( and it does happen) not just one person, but several could be in trouble with no local backup. 

So, for me anyway, without the ability to install to my own server or run locally, it's too risky. 

I wish him good luck though for trying.

Big Bear


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## magista (Jun 1, 2009)

Good point. I have less than 10 hives so data loss wouldn't be that big of deal but if you are running a larger operation it's something you'd want to be aware of. 

A good question would be does he have the ability to back up are restore the DB in case of b0rking? 

The site does allow you to export a .xls of your data. He's also working on a stand alone mobile phone app where your data will be stored on your phone. That I'm waaaay into.


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## bigbearomaha (Sep 3, 2009)

To bee fair, I went online and signed up for a free acct to see it in action.

I like the download-able inspection sheet to be printed and filled out at site to be entered later.

I do see there is an option to print a csv (good, simple choice) of the inspections listed.

all in all, I like it. I would definitely use it on my own server.

I am still uncomfortable with the lack of mobility in data. what if the hosted server goes down? what if the company goes down and doesn't pay for hosting the site anymore. all the time and work to enter all the data would be essentially lost (except for the csv download of inspections).

It's not like I can do a reinstall of the app on a different machine or server and copy my data over to that. There is no other incident of the actual software except on a hosted service.

there's not even the option yet that I can see of buying the software to install on my own server.

Yes, that fact is stuck in my craw so to speak but I feel if data is important enough to be tracked on a computer, it should have more support and 'what if' options. The way it is now, all my eggs are in one basket. as magista said, if it's only a couple hives, not a lot of info to retype into other app if need to move, but if more than 5 or 10, . That's a lot of trust I am putting into whatever recently graduated geek they let loose on the servers at the hosting company.

there are some extra details I would like to see listed on the inspections end such as a check box for 'no treatment', yes, one could simply not check anything but it would be nice to see listed anyway. little extras like that to encompass the 'natural' or biological management folks a bit more.

it is also nice to see one can select settings regarding what units of measurement (U.S> or metric) to use and other customizations are very handy.

As a software itself, I would give it a B+. 

you can tell a lot of thought has been put into this.

I like the look of it and it works well.

too bad I can't run it on my own.

Good work though,

Big Bear


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## Budster (Mar 24, 2006)

Actually, I run a few websites too. Anyone worth ones salt will backup his MySQL database frequently, as I'm sure he does. Even this website, I'm sure, is backed up through a CRON job. A MySQL database dump, through a cron job is too easy to set up. Personally, I backup my MySQL databases daily onto my local (home) system from my hosting provider. I would just ask and get reassurance, as I'm sure all will be ok...


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## beetight (Mar 19, 2010)

Hi all,
Thank you for your comments, and I'm glad that you're mostly liking Beetight. I thought I'd come and try and answer a few of your concerns. I've answered some of these already to bigbearomaha on our support site, but they stand repeating and expanding here.

I understand very well the issues with trusting your data to an external host. If that's a problem in itself, then there's not a great deal I can do, but if there are specific reasons for the concern I can try to address them. All hosted web apps, from small ones like mine, through medium sized ones like 37signals, to giants like salesforce.com and google docs, have to reassure their users that their data is safe. Some of this might get technical.

Perhaps it's best I start by explaining our hosting infrastructure. We use Amazon Web Services for our whole setup. Beetight.com is hosted on an Amazon EC2 instance, with the data on an external EBS volume. This means that hardware issues are removed from the equation. If the server catches fire, we just launch it right away in another location, using the external volume. This volume is snapshotted hourly via a cron job, so that is the most amount of data that could ever be lost. There are no recently graduated geeks at the hosting company to worry about. The only person with access to the server is me, and I know what I'm doing. I'm not going to pretend that we're not having any errors. We're still in beta, and I only launched the full version on Thursday. What I do hope I can reassure you is that these errors will be minor, quickly rectified, and won't result in loss of data.

I've some experience in doing this. Beetight is really a pet project of mine. My day job is running some very big web apps. I run clevr.com, which has over 40,000 users, with massive amounts of user data. In four years we've not lost a single piece of user data. I'm hosting Beetight on the same infrastructure.

I also run even more critical systems. We run hosted emergency planning systems and software for fire stations. We have several very large clients who rely on this, and can't tolerate even minutes of downtime. While this obviously isn't running on the same systems as Beetight, I hope this can reassure you that I'm not going to lose your data.

That said, however reliable a host, it's always more reassuring to have your own copies of the data. As bigbearomaha notes, you can currently download inspections as CSV files. I plan to extend this to all parts of the system, with an API to allow external client software to have access to the data.

In any case, thank you for your comments. All feedback is really welcomed, particularly as we're at such an early stage and need comments to help us improve. Do let me know if you have any other questions.


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## bigbearomaha (Sep 3, 2009)

It's good to hear you have such a nice setup.

I have been a network tech and admin on Windows and Linux systems since '97. perhaps I am just paranoid from being a part of the server scene for so long.

Anyways, as I mentioned above, outside of the hosting issue, it is a very well put together app and I wish you good luck in it's further development.

I wasn't trying to rain on your parade, I just know firsthand that Murphy's law applies in full force when it comes to networks and servers. As a matter of fact, there are a few special corollaries added to that fun little law just for them. heh heh

enjoy the bees,

Big Bear


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## sharpy98 (Apr 7, 2009)

I like the site really well, think it will be awesome for a small timer like me. Only issue I have ran into so far is I can not get it to load on my BB storm. I get the site header but that is all. Good site overall though.


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## beetight (Mar 19, 2010)

Yeah, it doesn't work very well on Blackberrys. This is because I unfortunately have no way of testing it on them, as the emulator software is Windows only. I hope to get this resolved eventually though.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

beetight said:


> Yeah, it doesn't work very well on Blackberrys. This is because I unfortunately have no way of testing it on them, as the emulator software is Windows only. I hope to get this resolved eventually though.


Blackberrys and beekeeping do not mix. I have had to replace my trackball several times just answering my phone while extracting or working bees. Honey and propolis is very tough on trackballs. The littlest trace of honey on your fingers and goodbye dependable trackball function.


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## Budster (Mar 24, 2006)

Is the sight done in ModX? Just curious, I've tinkered with it in the past.


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## beetight (Mar 19, 2010)

Budster said:


> Is the sight done in ModX? Just curious, I've tinkered with it in the past.


It's done with CakePHP. In fact, I started doing it mainly as a project to learn CakePHP!


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## Budster (Mar 24, 2006)

I've breify looked at CakePHP... Pretty similar to Smarty isn't it? Oh well, nice job by the way! I only have 5 hives and tinkered around with your site to see what it was.


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## honeydreams (Aug 10, 2009)

why not just make the softwear for beeks to use instead of just on the web site?


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## beetight (Mar 19, 2010)

honeydreams said:


> why not just make the softwear for beeks to use instead of just on the web site?


Because I started the project so that I could learn CakePHP, which is a web application framework. I also just prefer writing web applications. This is not my day job. I did this for fun, and because I wanted to use it myself. 

But a web-based system gives a lot of benefits. You can access your data on any computer and from your mobile, and it's all in one place. It can run on any operating system. There are also features that I plan to add which wouldn't work if it was just a locally-installed program.


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## Batman (Jun 7, 2009)

It look's good so far. I'll prob bump up to a 'script when I get paid again. Between a trip to the bee store, a Dadant order, a replacing a wireless modem, a replacement of a lost iPhone, and a few other purchases, I kinda shot the wad of available fund I had left.

Craig


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## Budster (Mar 24, 2006)

honeydreams said:


> why not just make the softwear for beeks to use instead of just on the web site?


I didn't write this software, but have wrote much software in the past.

With all of the different operating systems and hardware this could be a bit daunting to work on all platforms. Also, MySQL would be required to be installed, or you could use other databases or even "flat files". It's tough to write software that will work on "most" systems...

Also, I do PHP, or as we say "LAMP" which is Lynix, Apache, MySQL & PHP. There are so many directions to go in, once you throw in Perl, Pyton and all the extras!

My biggest challenge when writing web-based apps is that they "look" different in different browsers and screen resolutions due to some conflicting WWW Consortium Standards. (CSS's) That's why I think he did a great job on his software, not only for the info it tracks, but because it works aesthetically as well! If you've ever done any programming, you will learn what painting yourself into a corner really is!

It's like going into a restaurant and getting a cube steak...

You want it baked or fried?
You want it with or without gravy?
You want it on a bun or on a plate?
etc, etc, etc...

He's done a great job thus far! And, I forgot to mention, software is never really done! There's always a bug to fix, an improvement to add, etc. It's quite a daunting task! Great job I think.

Now, I can write the "nuts and bolts" and get the heavy lifting done, but I am artistically challenged. It's hard to find someone who can do both as he has.


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## duncan_bees (Mar 20, 2010)

:applause:

I subscribed.


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## rlc5925 (Apr 19, 2009)

I checked it out, liked it and also subscribed.


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## beetight (Mar 19, 2010)

Thanks, everyone!I'm glad you all seem to be liking it.


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## honeydreams (Aug 10, 2009)

hey beetight, thanks for the explanation.


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## honeydreams (Aug 10, 2009)

well looks like beetight site has crashed and burned.
what a stinking bummer!


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## bigbearomaha (Sep 3, 2009)

Nah, never happen, after all, it's a hosted web app, I mean, how could it possibly strand people who might be depending on it? Who would've guessed that? 

Oh, I did.

Big Bear

( just giving ya a little ribbing bt)

Big Bear


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## beetight (Mar 19, 2010)

We had some downtime overnight (my time). It's back now. You can have your "I told you so", I'll grant you that! :doh: I'm going to do a blog to explain what happened. However, I'll emphasise now that no data was lost. Obviously such downtime is unacceptable and very embarrassing. I will refer back to what I said at the weekend though:



> I'm not going to pretend that we're not having any errors. We're still in beta, and I only launched the full version on Thursday. What I do hope I can reassure you is that these errors will be minor, quickly rectified, and won't result in loss of data.


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## bigbearomaha (Sep 3, 2009)

BT, I wasn't trying to infer that your webapp is a "bad' product.

it's a very nice one.

My point has always been that web access in and of itself i snot a thing that can be guaranteed. on either side of the deal.

Someones local ISP can go down for a time, Your hosting machine ISP can go down for a time. 

Sure, maybe no data is lost, but inaccessible, at the wrong time, is just as bad a problem. Especially if you are really needing access at that point.

I have been in networking and servers for awhile now. One lesson I have learned is that if it's that important, it's local.

You have a fine webapp. no doubt.

Big Bear


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## beetight (Mar 19, 2010)

I'd not agree that downtime is just as bad as data loss, but I'll agree that it's a problem. Of course, local apps can go wrong too, and even with regular backups we can all lose data on our home machines too. I think the point is that any system is vulnerable.


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## bigbearomaha (Sep 3, 2009)

yes, local service goes down, but with local I can fix the problem myself or my staff (figuratively speaking) instead of waiting on the remote host to do it.

more control of the process on my end.

and I would have several clients of mine tell me access to data is definitely as important as the data itself. if they can't get the data, what use is it? so I am constantly told.

remote hosting has a useful place but it takes control of the data and the environment around the data out of the end users control. they are dependent on the host.

Big Bear


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## dni (Oct 4, 2008)

*Beetight is Fantastic!*

I have no problem with the fact that is is a hosted solution, as it sounds like the data will soon be exportable.

This is the future folks, do be afraid of it.

A public API is in the works for those who want to do more on their own end.

The simplicity and obviousness of this product is what makes it so great.

Nice work, beetight.

Kudos.:thumbsup:


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## pintado (May 5, 2009)

Is there a way to sign up for the Pro account without using PayPal?


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## dni (Oct 4, 2008)

*Re: Is there a way to sign up for the Pro account without using PayPal?*



dni said:


> It looks like you can just use a regular credit card. Click through the upgrade and you see this inside PayPal:
> _
> Don't have a PayPal account? Use your credit card or bank account (where available)._



I take it back.
I just tried to sign up for pro.
The way PayPal is set up you need to join PayPal in order for the transaction to go through.
I have never seen this before, nor do I want to have a PayPal account.
Hope he rectifies soon....


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## pintado (May 5, 2009)

The thing I don't like about this is that paypal sets up a reoccurring yearly schedule to automatically bill your credit card. I won't do this for 2 reasons. 

1. I don't like company's taking money out of my account without my specific consent.
2. I don't like company's holding my credit card information.

Just my thoughts.


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## dni (Oct 4, 2008)

pintado said:


> The thing I don't like about this is that paypal sets up a reoccurring yearly schedule to automatically bill your credit card.


agreed.


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## pintado (May 5, 2009)

It's been confirmed. You can't get the subscription without setting up a paypal account and setting it up on a reoccurring payment. Here's a quote from the developer: 

Matt Kane, Official Rep, replied 6 hours ago
Hi,
I'm afraid that because of the type of subscriptions we use, PayPal insist that people create an account when they sign up. There's no way of us getting around this without using a much more complicated and expensive integration system on our end. 

The link to the quote is: 
http://getsatisfaction.com/beetight/topics/open_source_or_proprietary

What makes it worse, if you try to pay for a year then cancel the account beetight will show you as canceling the account and you can't use the pro version from that point forward. So you can't even get credit for a year without paypal holding the account open and holding your credit card info. 

It's really up to the end-user, but if you decide to use this service you MUST open a paypal account with your credit card information AND let them setup a reoccurring yearly charge AND if you deiced to cancel it you will be cut off from the upgrade from that moment. 

I just want to make sure people know EXACTLY what they can expect if they decide to sign up for the pro service.


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## beetight (Mar 19, 2010)

Hi,
I'm sorry if this is confusing. I'm going to change it so that if you cancel before the year is up, you still get the full year of pro access. So if you don't want PayPal to retain your card details (we never see them) then you can sign up for pro, then immediately cancel the subscription. As for requiring the paypal account, it does appear there is no way around this. The information that they give developers is a little misleading on this, so I'll update the docs to reflect this.

So, to clarify: yes, you do need a paypal account, but I'll be changing it so you can cancel the subscription and still keep the account til the end of the year. I'll get that done later today, but if anyone wants to sign up before then, I'll manually fix it for them when they create their account. Hope that clears everything up, and sorry for the confusion. Let me know if you have any other questions.


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## Monie (Feb 13, 2008)

I'm a little confused on one point. 

Are you saying that someone can pay for one year, cancel within a couple of months and get a refund, but still keep the pro version for a year?? :scratch:

Because I work in retail, to me, cancellation automatically means refund.


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## beetight (Mar 19, 2010)

Monie said:


> I'm a little confused on one point.
> 
> Are you saying that someone can pay for one year, cancel within a couple of months and get a refund, but still keep the pro version for a year?? :scratch:


No, you can pay for one year, cancel at any point before the year is up and you can keep the pro version for the rest of the year. You won't get a refund, but you won't be billed again.


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## Monie (Feb 13, 2008)

Got it. Thanks. 

BTW, I LOVE IT!!


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## bigbearomaha (Sep 3, 2009)

I know I have given you a tough time or two, but it seems to have potential. got to give some props to a fellow Linux admin.

I just added more suggestions to inspection report selections. I would actually be willing to test ( pay for) the Pro level should the options and selections in the inspections, etc.. improve. as it is, I am still just 'test driving', but yes, there is a lot of potential.

Good work so far.

Big Bear


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## beetight (Mar 19, 2010)

Feedback is always welcome. I'm currently working on adding lots of new inspection options. You'll be able to enable to or disable these depending on whether you use them. The list of new field ideas is here, so any suggestions for further additions would be very useful.


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

Beetight,

Is it possible to add hives as a group, or to duplicate data so as to avoid re-entering the info for each new hive?


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## beetight (Mar 19, 2010)

BeeCurious said:


> Beetight,
> 
> Is it possible to add hives as a group, or to duplicate data so as to avoid re-entering the info for each new hive?


Not at the moment, but that's a really good idea!


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## NewbeeNnc (May 21, 2009)

I've been assisting in alpha testing of www.hivetracks.com


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## beetight (Mar 19, 2010)

NewbeeNnc said:


> I've been assisting in alpha testing of www.hivetracks.com


Interesting. I'd not seen that before. Competition is always healthy! 
It doesn't seem to want to let me sign up without a US zip code, but I am of course curious to have a look!


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## beetight (Mar 19, 2010)

BeeCurious said:


> Beetight,
> 
> Is it possible to add hives as a group, or to duplicate data so as to avoid re-entering the info for each new hive?


Because you asked so nicely (and it was such a good idea) I've now implemented this. You can now add hives in bulk, up to 1000 at a time. Should save some time.


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## gerekli (Feb 5, 2013)

www.hivetrack.com


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## brettj777 (Feb 27, 2013)

Is this still being actively developed? Seems like not having Top Bar Hives as an option is a missed opportunity.


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## mobe_45 (Mar 14, 2015)

It's $15.00/year if you want to access it on an android for even one hive as you must have the pro version.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

I'd like to point out the the 'Hivetrack.com' linked in post #47 is _ENTIRELY DIFFERENT_ from 'Hivetracks.com'. Note that there is no "s" in the version in post #47.

_They are not the same program!_ :no:


Hivetracks.com (with an "S") is no longer free unless you had previously signed up in the free period. If you are a new user of Hivetracks.com, there is a _recurring fee_ based on the number of hives you enter into their system.

Hivetrack.com (*without *the "S") appears to be based in Turkey, and I saw no mention of a fee. However, I have not signed up for that site either, so I can't say for sure.


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## jorre (Jun 22, 2015)

Because you guys are still responding to this thread, even when it's a couple of years old, it seems like a good beekeeping web app can benefit some of you. I've used beetight and kind of liked it, but it seemed really old (looks like it's from 2011 or so) and wasn't really working on my iPhone. 

Because I'm a web and app developer I decided to roll out an app that works flawlessly on any mobile device as a web app. If you want to check it out, the url is https://www.mybeekeeper.com.

Like you all said, some competition in the area is good to keep things moving forward. Other than that, just compare a couple of apps and use the one that suits your needs!


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