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Queen

Last updated on October 28, 2026

The Queen feature lets you associate a stock (queen genetic line) with a hive, and keeps the history of every stock that has succeeded one another on that hive over time.

info

This association is essential for an operation that tracks its stocks (the standard case): until a hive has a queen associated with it, its colony does not exist for ApiTracer and no other action (operation, harvest, evaluation...) can be recorded on it. If you don't know the queen's origin, create a generic stock (for example "unknown queen", suggested code NC26, or "naturally re-queened", suggested code RN26) rather than leaving the hive unassociated.

On the website​

  1. From Hives, find the hive in question: the "Current strain" column shows the genetics of the queen currently in the hive.
  2. Click the stock (or the corresponding action) to open that hive's stock history.
  3. Click Add a stock.
  4. Choose the stock to associate and confirm.

On the mobile app​

  1. In the Enter tab, select the Queen tile.
  2. Scan the hive's QR code (or select it from the list).
  3. Choose the stock to associate.
  4. Confirm.

A history, not a single record​

A hive is never limited to "its" stock: each association is recorded with its period, so the complete history of successive stocks stays available (who was associated, and when). This is possible because a queen's identifier is not just her hive's, but the combination of the box's code (the hive) and her genetics's code (the stock) — for example 100011 BV12, visible on the Hive information record. Two queens that succeed one another on the same hive therefore have two different identifiers (100011 BV12, then 100011 NL19), which tells them apart unambiguously.

tip

To manage your stocks themselves (add, edit, delete), go to Management → Stocks.

Transferring a queen to another hive (change of box)​

To move a living colony to another hive — for example moving it into a bigger box or a replacement one — without counting it as a loss or as a new association, use the Change box action from the source hive's record (mobile app). The queen keeps her history, her statistics and the operations already recorded, which simply follow the colony to its new hive; the source hive becomes empty. If the destination hive already holds a living colony, a confirmation is asked before ending it.

Commenting on a queen​

From Code info (mobile app), scan a hive then open the comment field to note an observation about its current colony: temperament, origin, a reminder. This comment is attached to the current colony: it is kept as long as she stays associated with the hive, and is replaced by a new comment when the queen is replaced. On the website, the same comment is edited from the Hive information record (/statistics-hive/<code>).

How do I track the lineage and renewal of my queens?​

ApiTracer attaches every piece of data — harvest, operation, evaluation — to the queen's identifier (box + genetics, see above), not to the hive in general. Replacing the queen therefore opens a new identifier and a fresh, blank history, without erasing anything: every piece of data from the previous queen stays readable in the statistics, simply filed under her own identifier rather than under the new one. To compare the quality of different stocks before deciding which to breed from, see the corresponding question in the FAQ.