Most beekeepers aren't keeping the records the law already requires.Treatment records are a legal requirement under the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013. Bee Happy Hive makes this automatic, free, and permanent.
Every morning at 07:30 you get a plain English summary. Your bees are okay today. Or — you need to look at Hive 3 before the weekend. That's it. From a sensor under the hive, analysed overnight.
Standard & Pro tiers
⚖️
Legal compliance records
Photograph your treatment packaging. We read the product name, batch number, and expiry date automatically. We record it, store it for five years, and generate a PDF an inspector will accept. Free. Forever.
All tiers — always free
📊
Colony health history
Weight trends, temperature patterns, varroa monitoring, inspection logs — all in one place, building into a picture of your colony over months and years. The kind of history that makes you a better beekeeper.
Free tier + sensor tiers
Already the law
Most beekeepers don't know they're already breaking the law
The Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 require every beekeeper who uses any authorised medicine on their bees to keep a treatment record. Five years minimum. Specific fields. Can be requested by an inspector at any time.
Almost nobody does it properly. Most keep nothing. Some have a notebook they can't find. A few have a spreadsheet they stopped updating after the first season.
Sound familiar? You're not alone. And now it takes 60 seconds.
We're Mum and Bee Girl — a mother-daughter beekeeping team from Northern Ireland. We got our first colony and immediately started worrying every time we couldn't get to the hive. We built this because we wanted the morning notification we couldn't find anywhere else.
We're members of Randalstown & District Beekeepers Association. We know what it's like to be a beginner with one colony and a lot of questions. That's who we built this for.
Create your account and record your first treatment. Your compliance records start building immediately. No credit card. No obligation.
Free forever for compliance records. Upgrade any time for sensor monitoring.
Legal requirements
Compliance record keeping
What the law actually says. What Bee Happy Hive does about it. No scaremongering, no waffle — just the facts.
⚖️
Treatment records are a legal requirement under the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013.This applies to every beekeeper in the UK who uses any authorised veterinary medicine on their bees. Honey bees are classified as food-producing animals under UK law. The fine for non-compliance is unlimited.
What the law requires
Eight fields. Five years. Any inspector can ask.
The Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 (VMR 2013) specify exactly what must be recorded for every treatment. Here's what the law says — and how Bee Happy Hive captures it.
Field required by law
Legal source
How Bee Happy Hive records it
Name of the veterinary medicine
VMR 2013 Regulation 20
✓ OCR reads product name from packaging photo
Date of administration
VMR 2013 Regulation 20
✓ Timestamped automatically at time of entry
Quantity administered
VMR 2013 Regulation 20
✓ Prompted with standard dose options per product
Withdrawal period
VMR 2013 Regulation 20
✓ Auto-populated from product database. Alert if supers present.
Identification of animals treated
VMR 2013 Regulation 20
✓ Hive name and apiary from your registered hive record
Batch number
VMR 2013 Regulation 20
✓ OCR reads batch number from packaging
Expiry date of product
VMR 2013 Regulation 20
✓ OCR reads expiry date from packaging
Disposal of unused product
VMR 2013 Regulation 20
✓ Optional disposal record field (recommended)
⚠ Withdrawal period alert — the most important food safety feature
If you have supers on a hive when you record a treatment, the app alerts you immediately: "Honey cannot be harvested from Hive 1 for 42 days after this treatment. Withdrawal period expires 26 October 2025."
Harvesting honey within the withdrawal period of a treatment is a food safety offence. Bee Happy Hive prevents this from happening accidentally. You can override the alert — but you must actively confirm you understand the risk, and that override is recorded.
What Bee Happy Hive does — and does not — claim
Bee Happy Hive generates the records the law requires, in the format the law describes, kept for the period the law mandates. That is the claim. No more.
We do not claim to be officially endorsed by DAERA, NBU, or any government body — yet. We do not claim our records automatically satisfy every possible inspector's requirements. The beekeeper is still responsible for their own compliance. We make it easy. We do not make it guaranteed.
By jurisdiction
Find your requirements
Requirements vary between Northern Ireland, Great Britain, and the Republic of Ireland. Pick yours.
Northern Ireland — key facts
Northern Ireland follows EU regulations due to the Windsor Framework. DAERA (Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs) is the responsible authority. The EU Animal Health Law 2016 is in force in NI since April 2021.
🔴
Treatment records — 5 years minimum
Legal requirement under VMR 2013. DAERA responsible for enforcement. Records must be kept in a form that is readily accessible and can be produced to an authorised officer on request.
✓ Bee Happy Hive stores all eight required fields for five years. PDF export in seconds.
🔴
AFB and EFB — notifiable diseases
American Foulbrood and European Foulbrood must be reported to DAERA Plant Health Inspectorate immediately if suspected. Legal requirement under The Bee Diseases and Pests Control Order (Northern Ireland) 2007.
✓ If you record suspected AFB or EFB, the app prompts you to report immediately with DAERA contact details.
🔴
Import / export registration
Beekeepers importing or exporting bees must be registered with DAERA on DataBees. EU Animal Health Law 2016 implemented in NI April 2021.
✓ Bee Happy Hive records your apiary GPS (what3words precision). Export for DataBees registration.
🟡
DataBees registration — voluntary but encouraged
DAERA encourages all NI beekeepers to register their apiaries and colonies on DataBees. Not legally mandatory for domestic beekeepers but assists DAERA's disease surveillance programme.
✓ Your Bee Happy Hive apiary record contains exactly the location data DataBees needs.
Great Britain — key facts
The National Bee Unit (NBU) is the responsible authority in England and Wales. BeeBase is the voluntary registration system. The Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 applies across the UK.
🔴
Treatment records — 5 years minimum
Legal requirement under VMR 2013. NBU is the responsible authority. Records can be requested by a bee inspector at any time. No specific format is mandated — but all eight fields must be present.
✓ Bee Happy Hive records all eight required fields. PDF format that bee inspectors recognise.
🔴
Varroa — legal requirement to report presence
It is a legal requirement to report the presence of Varroa destructor. Report via BeeBase. This has been law since 2006.
✓ Bee Happy Hive varroa monitoring records are exportable. App provides BeeBase reporting link.
🔴
AFB and EFB — notifiable diseases
American Foulbrood and European Foulbrood are notifiable. Report to your local NBU bee inspector. They will attend and confirm diagnosis.
✓ App prompts immediate reporting with local bee inspector contact details.
🟡
BeeBase registration — voluntary but strongly encouraged
Over 50,000 beekeepers now registered. Not legally mandatory but enables NBU to contact you if disease is reported in your area. Strongly recommended.
✓ Your Bee Happy Hive apiary GPS location can be exported for BeeBase registration.
Republic of Ireland — key facts
DAFM (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine) is the responsible authority. EU veterinary medicines legislation applies. If you sell honey you must be registered as a food business operator.
🔴
Food business operator registration — if you sell honey
All beekeepers producing honey for sale must register with DAFM as food business operators. Free registration at beekeeping@agriculture.gov.ie. Mandatory if selling any honey, including at farmers markets.
✓ Bee Happy Hive harvest records support traceability requirements for DAFM inspections.
🔴
Treatment records
EU veterinary medicines legislation applies in the Republic of Ireland. Records must be kept. The fields required mirror VMR 2013 requirements.
✓ Bee Happy Hive records the required fields. PDF export for DAFM inspections.
🔴
AFB and EFB — notifiable to DAFM
AFB and EFB are notifiable diseases in the Republic of Ireland. Report to DAFM immediately if suspected.
✓ App provides DAFM contact details and prompts immediate reporting.
🔴
Honey labelling
If you sell honey you must comply with EU honey labelling requirements including country of origin, weight, and your name and address.
✓ Bee Happy Hive harvest records include harvest date, apiary, and hive — all relevant to traceability.
VMD approved treatments
Currently approved treatments for honey bees in the UK
The app cross-references your photographed packaging against this database. Verified March 2026. Product list stored in our database and updated without requiring an app update.
Product
Active ingredient
Withdrawal period note
Apistan
Tau-fluvalinate
Not applicable if used correctly outside honey flow
Apiguard
Thymol
Harvest not within same season as treatment
Thymovar
Thymol
Harvest not within same season as treatment
Apilifevar
Thymol, eucalyptus, menthol, camphor
Harvest not within same season as treatment
MAQS (Mite Away Quick Strips)
Formic acid
May be used with supers on per product guidance
Api-Bioxal (oxalic acid)
Oxalic acid dihydrate
Prescription required in UK. Broodless period treatment.
Oxuvar (oxalic acid solution)
Oxalic acid dihydrate
Prescription required in UK.
Product list verified against VMD Product Information Database, March 2026. Always verify current approvals at vmd.defra.gov.uk before use.
Start keeping records today
Free forever. No credit card. Records start from your first treatment — and stay for five years.
Compliance records are free forever. Sensor monitoring from £3.99/month.
How it works
Up and running in under five minutes
No hardware. No subscription. Just sign up, add your hives, and start building a record that protects you and your bees.
1
Set up your apiaries and hives
Add as many apiaries and hives as you keep. Each hive gets its own record — inspection history, treatments, tasks, and photos all in one place.
Print a QR tag for each hive. Scan it at the apiary to open that hive's record instantly — no searching, no typing.
🏠Multiple apiaries supported — home, out-apiary, community sites
🏷QR hive tags — print once, scan to open instantly at the apiary
📍What3Words location saved per apiary — share your exact spot in 3 words
My Apiaries
Rooghan Gardens
Broughshane · 2 hives · ///filled.wool.most
The Wood Shed
Broughshane · 1 hive · ///sport.ahead.zones
+ Add an apiary
Inspection — Hive 1 · Today
Queen seenYes
Eggs seenYes
Brood patternGood
TemperCalm
StoresGood
OverallHealthy ✓
2
Log inspections at the hive — fast, offline-ready
Open the app, tap the hive, tap Inspect. Answer the questions — queen seen, brood, stores, temper — and add notes and photos while you're standing at the hive. No signal needed.
Every inspection is timestamped, saved to your device, and synced to the cloud when you're back in signal. Your history builds automatically.
📴Works offline — perfect for apiaries with no signal
📸Add up to 4 photos per inspection — stored securely in the cloud
☁️Synced automatically — your records are safe even if you lose your phone
3
Compliance records complete themselves
Every treatment you record — Apivar, Oxalic, MAQS — is automatically formatted into a VMR 2013 compliant record. Nothing extra to fill in. Nothing to remember.
Export a PDF any time — professional format that satisfies any inspector or vet visit. Your records are kept for 5 years minimum as required by law.
📄VMR 2013 compliant — the legal requirement for all varroa treatments in the UK
🗂5 year archive — automatically kept, never deleted
📤Export as PDF — ready for an inspector in seconds
VMR Record — Hive 1
TreatmentApivar strips
Active ingredientAmitraz
Dose2 strips
Date applied14 Apr 2026
WithdrawalCleared ✓
📄Export VMR PDF →
Coming soon
Passive monitoring — know before you visit
A weatherproof sensor under the hive measures weight, temperature, and activity every 15 minutes. One plain-English notification every morning. No charts to interpret — just "bees okay" or "worth a look."
No. The compliance record keeping, inspection log, and varroa monitoring are all free and work without a sensor. You can use Bee Happy Hive for years without ever buying hardware.
What sensor hardware do I need?
The sensor specification is open. You can build your own (Raspberry Pi + 4 load cells + DHT sensor — under £80), buy a compatible pre-built kit, or wait for our own kit. Any sensor that sends data in the documented format works.
Are my records really kept for five years?
Yes. Treatment records cannot be deleted — they can be marked as entered in error, but the original record is preserved. A legally compliant archive cannot have records that disappear. Your records outlive your subscription.
I have no sensors. What do I get on Standard if I pay?
Deep trend analysis of your logged inspection and varroa data, regional insights from sensored hives within 10 miles of your apiary, and seasonal recommendations based on what nearby beekeepers are experiencing. The community data has value even without your own sensor.
Public record verification
Verify a treatment record
Enter a Record ID from a Bee Happy Hive treatment record PDF. This page confirms the record is genuine without revealing the beekeeper's personal details.
🔍
Enter a record ID
Found at the bottom of any Bee Happy Hive treatment record PDF. Format: TR-XXXXXX
✓
Record verified — genuine Bee Happy Hive record
Record ID: TR-8821A · Verified 27 March 2026
ProductApiguard Gel
Date administered14 September 2025
Batch numberAG2409-NI
Expiry dateMarch 2027
Withdrawal periodSame season as treatment
Hive typeNational hive
Personal details of the beekeeper and their precise apiary location are not shown on this page. This verification confirms the record is genuine and unmodified.
Who uses this page?
🕵️
Bee inspectors
A bee inspector can verify that a record shown on a beekeeper's phone is genuine and unmodified before logging it in their inspection notes.
🏪
Honey buyers and retailers
A honey buyer can verify that withdrawal period records are genuine before purchasing. Relevant for premium and traceable honey sales.
🔬
Version two — queen certificates
Queen breeders will be able to issue verifiable certificates showing sensor-confirmed colony performance and breeding lineage. Coming in version two.
Get started
Create your free account
Takes five minutes. No credit card. Your compliance records start from the moment you log your first treatment — and stay for five years.
✓
Treatment records that meet VMR 2013 requirements — free, forever
✓
Inspection log and varroa monitoring included from day one
✓
Upgrade any time for sensor monitoring and morning notifications
✓
One account — works on the app and website, same records everywhere
What happens next
1.Check your email and confirm your account
2.Add your first hive (takes 2 minutes)
3.Photograph your treatment packaging or log your first inspection
4.Your 5-year archive begins
Create your account
No credit card. No commitment. Treatment records are free forever. By creating an account you agree to our Privacy Policy.
