Neonach
BeeBase
by
, 10-08-2011 at 04:16 PM (5541 Views)
About a week ago I registered with the National Bee Units BeeBase website and database. Indicating location and providing information on apiary sites was easy enough, and then I made a start on recording inspections.
By the time I reached the fourth inspection for first two and then four hives at one apiary site, I was already feeling somewhat muddled and frustrated by the database's interface.
Not user-friendly, certainly: for examplle each colony inspection record has to be started from scratch, whereas in most cases the data will be the same as last time, but with a few changes.
It but also not really designed to meet the needs of bee-keepers, for example there's no-where to record what actions were taken, or what will need to be taken, or general notes about availability of forage, or what feed stuff has been provided in the feed tray or frame.
I realized that I would still have to keep my own records, so rather than waste time with duplicating effort on a database of little value to me, I've just given up. Of course I'll report any notifiable disease - probably by email, and I'll keep the information on apiaries up to date, but otherwise I'm afraid I shall not be using BeeBase as clearly was hoped for by NBU. A pity, as I can see the value of standardized information. But the truth is that databases are very rigid things, and unless they are absolutely up to the mark, they may be nothing more than a useless burden.