iPhone (Safari)

1. Open app.apiaryhq.com in Safari.
2. Tap the ··· (more options) button next to the address bar.
3. In the sheet that opens, tap View More (the down arrow) to expand it.
4. Tap Add to Home Screen, then Add in the top right.

iPhone (Chrome)

On iOS 26 and later, Chrome can install the app too -- it just takes one extra tap to get there since the option is tucked further into the menu. On older iOS versions, use Safari instead.

1. Open app.apiaryhq.com in Chrome.
2. Tap the Share icon (the up arrow) in the address bar.
3. In the sheet that opens, tap View More.
4. Tap Add to Home Screen, then confirm.

Android (Chrome)

1. Open app.apiaryhq.com in Chrome.
2. Tap the three-dot menu in the top right.
3. Tap Install app (some versions show this as Add to Home screen instead).
4. Confirm by tapping Install or Add.

No Android device on hand to capture this from -- written from Chrome's current documented steps rather than a real screenshot. If anything here doesn't match what you actually see, that's worth flagging.

Desktop (Chrome or Edge)

1. Open app.apiaryhq.com.
2. Look for an install icon in the address bar (a small monitor with a down arrow), or open the three-dot menu.
3. Click Install Apiary HQ.

Screenshot needed: the install icon in the address bar.

Mac Desktop (Safari)

Requires macOS Sonoma or later.

1. Open app.apiaryhq.com in Safari.
2. From the menu bar, choose File → Add to Dock (or click the Share button in the toolbar and choose Add to Dock).
3. Confirm the name and click Add.

Screenshot needed: the File menu with "Add to Dock" visible.

Creating Your First Apiary

1. On the Home tab, tap the apiary pill near the top (it reads + Add Apiary if you don't have one yet).
2. Tap + Add Apiary.
3. Enter an Apiary Name -- something like "Back Forty" or "Home Yard." This is the only required field.
4. Location and Notes are both optional.
5. Tap Create Apiary.

Adding Your First Hive

1. From Home or My Apiaries, tap the orange + button.
2. Enter a Hive Name -- most people name hives, like "Queen Beatrice."
3. Location is optional, for a note on where within the apiary this hive sits.
4. Confirm the Apiary it belongs to -- it defaults to whichever apiary is currently active.
5. Fill in Year Established and number of Boxes if you know them.
6. Set the Installation Date if this hive started from a package or nuc.
7. Pick a Species (Italian, Carniolan, Buckfast, Russian, or Other) and a starting Status (Healthy, Monitoring, Weak, or Queenless).
8. Add any Notes, and optionally a photo.
9. Tap Add Hive.

Starting an Inspection

1. Tap Inspect in the bottom navigation.
2. Tap the orange + button.
3. Choose the Hive and confirm the Date (defaults to today).
4. Pick the Weather. It defaults to Sunny unless the Home tab's weather widget has already loaded this session -- it isn't guaranteed to reflect live conditions the moment the form opens, so it's worth a glance.

Dictating Your Notes

This is the fastest way to log an inspection. Talk through what you saw, frame by frame, and the app fills in and suggests values for the structured fields below as you go.

1. Tap TAP TO DICTATE.
2. Talk through what you saw -- population, brood, queen, stores, pests, anything notable.
3. Tap the button again to stop. Your words land in the notes field, cleaned up automatically.

Screenshot needed: the dictate button, before or during a recording.

Hive Observations

These fill in from dictation, but you can also set or correct any of them by hand.

• Queen Seen? -- Yes, No, Eggs Only, or Larvae Only
• Population -- Low, Moderate, Strong, or Packed
• Temperament -- Calm, Moderate, or Defensive
• Honey Stores -- Critical, Light, Adequate, or Heavy
• Brood Pattern -- Solid, Patchy, Spotty, or No Brood
• Swarm Cells? and Brood Present (eggs, larvae, capped worker, capped drone)
• Queen/Supersedure Status -- the app suggests a value here based on what you entered above
• SHB Level, plus whether larvae/slime or unattended food and brood were seen

More Details (Optional)

Tap the "More Details" banner to expand this section. It's collapsed by default since most visits won't need all of it.

• Other Pests -- wax moths, ants, rodents, predator damage, chalkbrood
• Feeding -- what you fed, how much, and any notes
• Actions Taken -- a free-text note on anything you did during the visit
• Colony Phase -- auto-detected from the date, adjustable if needed, with a confidence level and supporting evidence
• Varroa Wash -- mites counted and sample size; the app calculates the percentage and tells you the treatment tier
• Treatments -- log any treatment applied this visit

Frame Map (Optional)

A separate, collapsed-by-default section below More Details. Track each frame individually if you want that level of detail -- most visits don't need it, but it's there when you do.

1. Tap the Frame Map banner to expand it.
2. Each box shows its frames and a running % utilized.
3. Tap a frame to set its Foundation (Plastic, Wax, Foundationless, Drawn Comb), what's in it under Brood (Eggs, Larvae, Worker Brood, Drone Brood) and Stores (Capped Honey, Nectar, Pollen), and the Comb state (Empty Drawn, Drawing, Undrawn).