ColonyIQ is an AI-powered Apiary Operating System that combines hive health analysis, forage mapping, regulatory compliance, varroa tracking, and harvest analytics — built for backyard hobbyists to commercial beekeepers.

ColonyIQ is an AI-powered Apiary Operating System designed for beekeepers. It helps you manage your apiaries and hives, record inspections, track treatments and harvests, map forage sources, monitor compliance and regulatory requirements, and generate intelligent reports using AI and real-world data.

What does the Regulatory Intelligence feature do?

In the Regulatory tab, ColonyIQ uses AI and live web research to look up beekeeping laws and requirements for your apiary's state. It returns information about: • Registration requirements and renewal deadlines • Inspection requirements • Hive movement and permit rules • Reportable diseases and quarantine regulations • Local ordinances and setback requirements • Commercial honey sales and labeling laws • Available state beekeeping programs Results are saved and can be refreshed at any time.

How do I record an inspection?

Go to your apiary → Inspections tab → tap 'New Inspection'. Select the hive, date, weather, and temperature. Then record queen observations (seen, marked, queen cells), brood status (eggs, larvae, capped brood, pattern rating), population strength, honey and pollen stores, and pest/disease indicators including Varroa mite count. Add notes for anything else observed.

The Tasks tab lets you manage to-dos for your apiary. You can create tasks manually with a title, description, category (inspection, treatment, harvest, maintenance, etc.), priority, due date, and season. The system can also auto-generate seasonal tasks based on your apiary data. Tasks have four statuses: Pending, In Progress, Completed, and Dismissed.

What is an Intelligence Report?

The Intelligence Report is an AI-generated analysis of your apiary that combines your forage data, regional ecology, seasonal patterns, landscape composition, and capacity information to produce: • Overall forage quality grade • High/Moderate/Low confidence forage findings • Landscape composition analysis • Seasonal strength breakdown • Forage gaps and risk periods • Sustainable hive capacity estimate • Property improvement recommendations • Nearby species to search for Reports take 15–30 seconds to generate.

How does forage mapping work?

Go to your apiary → Forage tab. Tap 'Add Forage Photos' and select iPhone photos taken near forage sources. The app automatically extracts the GPS coordinates from the photo's EXIF metadata, uploads the image, and uses AI vision to identify the plant species, type, bloom season, and bee-friendliness rating. Each identified plant is then plotted on the forage map.

Go to your apiary → Hives tab → tap 'Add Hive'. You can record the hive name, type (Langstroth, Top Bar, Warré, etc.), installation date, status, queen details (origin, marking color, genetics), and equipment configuration (number of brood boxes and supers). You can also upload a photo of the hive.

What if my photos don't have GPS data?

GPS data must be embedded in the photo at the time it was taken. On iPhone, make sure Location Services are enabled for the Camera app (Settings → Privacy → Location Services → Camera → 'While Using'). Photos taken without location access will show a 'No GPS data found' error and cannot be mapped.

What hive statuses are available?

Hives can be marked as: • Active – A healthy, working colony • Weak – Colony showing signs of stress • Deadout – Colony has died • Combined – Merged with another hive • Nuc – A nucleus colony • Swarm – A captured swarm Keeping statuses updated helps the health engine give accurate recommendations.

How do I create my first apiary?

From the main screen, tap the 'Add Apiary' button in the top right. Fill in the apiary name, type, location details (you can set GPS coordinates from a photo taken at your apiary), state, and hive count. You can also upload a photo of your apiary. Once created, tap the apiary card to open its full management dashboard.

How do I upload registration documents?

Go to your apiary → Docs tab. Tap 'Upload Document', select the document type (registration, inspection report, health certificate, etc.), give it a title and year, and upload the file. For registration certificates, ColonyIQ will automatically use AI to extract the registration number and expiration date and update your apiary profile.

Are intelligence reports saved?

Yes. Every report you generate is saved to your account with a timestamp. You can view all past reports from the Intelligence tab — tap any report in the history list to view it in full. You can run new reports as often as you like to track changes over time.

Can I edit a past inspection?

Yes. In the Inspections tab, tap the pencil (edit) icon next to any inspection record to open the full edit form. All fields can be updated and saved.

What are the main sections inside an apiary?

Each apiary has the following tabs: • Overview – Quick summary stats • Hives – Manage individual hive records • Inspections – Log and review hive inspection data • Treatments – Record Varroa mite tests and treatments • Harvests – Track honey harvest data • Forage – Map forage plant photos around your apiary • Intelligence – AI-generated apiary intelligence reports • Tasks – Manage seasonal and maintenance tasks • Docs – Upload registration certificates and other documents • Regulatory – AI-researched compliance info for your state • Timeline – Chronological event history • Profile – Edit apiary details

How do I track Varroa mite treatments?

Go to your apiary → Treatments tab. You can log mite tests (alcohol wash, sugar roll, sticky board, or visual inspection) with your mite count and sample size — the infestation rate is calculated automatically. If a treatment was applied, record the product (Apiguard, Apivar, Oxalic Acid, etc.), dosage, duration, and follow-up date.

Can I view forage entries on a map?

Yes. In the Forage tab, switch to the Map view. All your identified forage entries are plotted as pins. Tap any pin to see the plant species, photo, bloom season, and bee-friendliness rating. The map centers on your apiary's home location automatically.

Is my data private from other users?

Yes. ColonyIQ enforces user-level data isolation at the platform level. Every record you create is tied to your account and is only visible to you. Other users cannot access your apiaries, hives, inspections, forage maps, or reports — even if they use the same app.

How does disease report OCR work?

If you receive an official state disease or pest report (e.g. an EFB or AFB filing from your state Department of Agriculture), you can attach it to an inspection. ColonyIQ uses AI-powered OCR to read the document and automatically extract: • The disease or pest identified • Test results and severity • Reporting authority • A plain-language summary The extracted summary is saved to the inspection and flagged with a 'Disease/Pest Report Filed' banner so you can spot it at a glance. The document is also stored in your apiary's Docs tab as a disease_report type for permanent record-keeping.

What membership tiers are available?

ColonyIQ offers four membership tiers: • Bronze — Free forever, for hobbyists getting started • Silver — $5/month, for serious beekeepers who want deeper AI insights • Gold — $10/month, maximum intelligence for professional apiaries (up to 20 hives) • Enterprise — $1 per hive per month, for large-scale operations with 20+ hives (all Gold features, unlimited hives) There's also a Friends tier (Gold-level access, free) available by invitation for partners and collaborators. Admin accounts always have full Gold-equivalent access. You can compare all plans and upgrade at colonyiq.ai/upgrade.

What is the AI Honey Photo Analysis?

When you log a harvest, you can upload a photo of the honey and ColonyIQ's AI will analyze it to provide: • Color grading (Pfund-style classification) • Likely floral or forage source identification • Quality and clarity assessment This builds a visual record of every harvest and helps you trace honey characteristics back to what your bees were foraging on. AI Honey Photo Analysis is a Gold-tier feature.

What is the Apiary Timeline?

The Apiary Timeline is a unified activity feed that shows everything happening across all your hives in one place, sorted chronologically. It automatically aggregates: • Inspections and frame scans • Treatments and diagnostic tests • Harvests • Documents and disease reports • Inventory events (hive added/removed, swarms, splits, colony losses) • Queen replacements It's the fastest way to answer 'what happened and when' across your entire operation.

What is the Global Frame Registry?

The Global Frame Registry lets you track individual honeycomb frames by QR code across hives and even across beekeepers. Each frame gets a unique code (e.g. 00001) that you can scan during inspections. When you scan a frame, ColonyIQ automatically: • Logs it to the correct hive • Records a FrameInspection with both side A and side B photos • Auto-detects frame transfers between hives • Supports cross-user transfers (when a frame is sold or given to another beekeeper) • Maintains a complete life history of every frame — total inspections, last inspection date, and all past health scores This is a unique feature built for serious operations that want traceability on every piece of equipment.

What is the AI Apiarist frame photo analysis?

Upload photos of your honeycomb frames and ColonyIQ's AI Apiarist synthesizes them with your full inspection history, treatment records, diagnostic test results, and colony trends to produce a holistic assessment. You get: • Brood pattern ratings (healthy, spotty, declining) • Honey and pollen store estimates • Queen status and queen cell detection • Disease and pest flags (chalkbrood, SHB, wax moth) • Confidence-scored findings (e.g. 'Confirmed EFB — 100% confidence') • Prioritized recommended actions with rationale • Overall health score (1–10) Unlike a simple image classifier, the AI Apiarist cross-references everything it knows about the colony. This is a Gold-tier feature.

Does ColonyIQ have a blog?

Yes! Visit colonyiq.ai/blog for articles on beekeeping best practices, AI-powered colony management, seasonal tips, and ColonyIQ product updates. Individual posts are at /blog/:slug. New articles are published regularly, so check back often.

What's included in the free Bronze tier?

The Bronze tier is free forever and includes: • Forage mapping and AI plant identification • Varroa mite treatment tracking (alcohol wash, sugar roll, sticky board) • Harvest logging with weight, varietal, and notes • Basic task management • Digital inspection logs with weather auto-fill • Apiary and hive management Bronze is perfect for hobbyists and backyard beekeepers. No credit card required to sign up.

How do frame transfers work between hives or owners?

Frame transfers are handled automatically based on QR scans. When you scan a frame that is currently registered to a different hive, ColonyIQ detects the transfer and: • Logs a FrameInspection marked as a transfer event • Records the previous hive ID and previous owner (for cross-user transfers) • Updates the frame's current hive and apiary assignment silently in the background • Preserves the complete frame history This 'scan-first' approach means you don't need to manually flag transfers — just scan and inspect, and the system handles the bookkeeping. Cross-user transfers allow frames to move between ColonyIQ accounts (e.g. selling nucs or sharing equipment).

How do I export an inspection to PDF?

On any inspection record, tap the download icon (FileDown) to generate a professional, multi-page PDF report. The report includes all inspection data, embedded frame photos, disease report details, and the full AI Apiarist assessment. PDFs are perfect for sharing with: • State regulators and inspectors • Your veterinarian • Insurance claims for colony loss • Your own long-term archives The report is generated instantly and downloads directly to your device.

What's included in Silver?

The Silver tier ($5/month) includes everything in Bronze plus: • AI Hive Health Analysis — composite health scores and letter grades for every hive • Apiary Intelligence Reports — AI-generated forage, ecology, and capacity analysis • Regulatory Compliance Intelligence — AI research on your state's beekeeping laws • AI Health Score Badges on inspections • Advanced task automation insights Silver is ideal for serious beekeepers who want AI-driven health and compliance intelligence without the photo analysis features.

How does the weather auto-fill work?

When creating a new inspection, tap the weather icon (cloud-sun) next to the Weather field. ColonyIQ looks up the current weather at your apiary's GPS coordinates using the Open-Meteo API and automatically fills in: • Temperature (converted to Fahrenheit) • Weather condition (sunny, partly cloudy, cloudy, rainy, or windy) This requires that you've set GPS coordinates on your apiary profile. If your apiary doesn't have latitude/longitude yet, you'll be prompted to add them first.

What's included in Gold?

The Gold tier ($10/month) includes everything in Silver plus: • AI Frame Photo Analysis — the AI Apiarist synthesizes frame photos with your full colony history • AI Honey Photo Analysis — color grading and forage source identification • AI Seasonal Task Generation — customized task lists based on your actual hive data • Up to 20 hives Gold is built for professional apiaries that want the full power of ColonyIQ's AI capabilities. Need more than 20 hives? Check out Enterprise.

What's included in Enterprise?

The Enterprise tier ($1 per hive per month) includes everything in Gold with no hive limit. It's designed for large-scale commercial operations with 20+ hives. • All Gold features (AI frame analysis, honey analysis, seasonal task generation) • Unlimited hives — scales with your operation • $1 per hive per month • Priority support Enterprise is the most cost-effective option once you exceed 20 hives, since Gold caps at 20.

How do I upgrade my plan?

Go to colonyiq.ai/upgrade (or tap 'Upgrade' from within the app) to compare plans and checkout. Upgrades are processed securely through Base44 Payments. When you upgrade, your new tier is activated immediately and a confirmation email is sent. Your existing apiaries, hives, and data remain untouched — you simply unlock the new features. If you ever need to cancel, you can do so from your subscription management page at any time.

Can I cancel my subscription anytime?

Yes. You can cancel your subscription at any time from the Subscription management page in the app. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period — you'll keep access to your paid features until then. After cancellation, your account reverts to the free Bronze tier, but all your data (apiaries, hives, inspections, reports) is preserved. A confirmation email is sent when you cancel. If you change your mind, you can resubscribe anytime from the upgrade page.

Is there a Friends tier?

Yes. The Friends tier provides Gold-level access at no cost, available by invitation for partners, collaborators, and friends of ColonyIQ. Friends-tier users get all the same features as Gold subscribers. If you believe you qualify for a Friends-tier account, contact us through the form on the landing page and we'll review your request.

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Help & FAQ

Getting Started

Apiaries

Hives

Inspections

Forage Mapping

Intelligence Reports

Tasks

Regulatory

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