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Tasks

Beekeeping is full of small jobs that are easy to forget: add a super before the flow, fit a clearer board the day before extraction, treat for varroa once the honey is off. Tasks are Openbeehive's reminders. Jot one down with a due date, and it will surface on your dashboard when the day comes.

Like everything else in Openbeehive, tasks are stored locally first and sync in the background, so you can add one in the apiary with no signal and it will be waiting on your other devices later.

Creating a task​

Open the Tasks view and choose New task. A task has just a few fields:

FieldNotes
TitleA short description of the job, e.g. "Add second brood box".
Due dateThe day the task should appear as due. Optional, but recommended.
ApiaryOptionally tie the task to a specific apiary.
NotesAny extra detail you want to remember.

Keep the title short and actionable. The notes field is the place for the details, such as which hive, how much syrup, or which treatment you intend to use.

tip

You can create a task without a due date for "someday" jobs, such as "Build two more nuc boxes over winter". It simply won't appear in your due reminders until you add a date.

Tying a task to an apiary​

If you link a task to an apiary, it travels with that apiary's records. This is handy when you keep bees in more than one place, because you can see at a glance which yard a job belongs to, for example "Mow around hives" at the home apiary versus "Check fence" at the out-apiary.

Because sharing in Openbeehive happens at the apiary level via scopes, a task tied to a shared apiary is visible to everyone with access to that apiary. That makes tasks a simple way to coordinate within a small group or association. See Apiaries for more on sharing.

Open vs done​

Every task is either open or done.

  • Open tasks are still to do. They appear in your task list and, once their due date arrives, on the dashboard.
  • Done tasks are completed. Mark a task done by ticking it off; it drops out of your active list but stays in your records so you can see what was done and when.

You can reopen a task you marked done by mistake, and you can edit a task's title, date or notes at any time.

note

Marking a task done is a simple state change that syncs like any other field. Thanks to Openbeehive's conflict-free sync, if you and a co-beekeeper both tick off the same task on different devices, the result is consistent: the task ends up done. See Offline and sync for how this works.

How due tasks surface on the dashboard​

The dashboard is your daily starting point, and due tasks are one of the first things it shows you. A task counts as due when its due date is today or earlier and the task is still open.

  • Tasks due today appear in your dashboard reminders.
  • Tasks whose due date has passed stay visible (overdue) until you mark them done, so nothing quietly slips away.
  • Tasks with a due date in the future wait quietly and appear on the day.

This means you can plan ahead freely. Schedule a job for three weeks' time and forget about it; it will resurface exactly when you need it. See the Dashboard for the full picture of what your home screen shows.

tip

For recurring jobs, the simplest approach is to create the next task when you mark the current one done. For example, after completing a 7-day inspection, add a new task for the following week.

Examples of typical beekeeping tasks​

Tasks work best when they are concrete and time-bound. Here are some common examples through the year:

Spring

  • Carry out the first full inspection on a mild day.
  • Add a queen excluder and the first super before the main flow.
  • Check feed stores after a cold snap.

Early summer

  • Inspect every 7 to 9 days during swarm season.
  • Add or remove supers as the flow dictates.
  • Prepare nuc boxes for swarm control or splits.

Late summer / harvest

  • Fit clearer boards the day before extraction.
  • Remove and extract honey supers.
  • Begin varroa treatment once the honey is off.

Autumn

  • Feed for winter and check overall stores.
  • Fit mouse guards before the first frosts.
  • Apply an oxalic acid treatment in the broodless period (timing varies by region and method).

Winter

  • Heft hives to gauge stores; feed fondant if light.
  • Clear snow from entrances after heavy falls.
  • Repair and build equipment ready for spring.
caution

Treatment timing and the products you may legally use vary by country and region. Always follow your local guidance and the product label. The Varroa page covers the principles, but it is not a substitute for the rules where you keep bees.

See also​