NFC Traceability

Tap a hive.
Know everything.

Stick an NFC tag on any hive, super, piece of equipment, or harvest jar. Hold your Android phone close and its full record opens instantly — no searching, no typing, no fumbling with gloves on.

Get Early Access How to set up tags →

NFC scanning requires Android. NFC is not available on iPhone due to Apple restrictions.

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Photo — NFC scan at hive, hero shot
Phone held close to a hive with NFC sticker — screen showing hive record opening. Gloves on if possible. This is the centrepiece of the NFC page.
Any NFC tag — 1p NTAG213 stickers work perfectly
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Android only — NFC scanning needs Android
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Works offline — hive data loads from your local cache
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Glove-friendly — no typing, no searching
How it works

Three seconds from
tag to full record.

NFC tags work just like contactless payment — except instead of a transaction, you get instant access to everything you've ever recorded about that hive, super, or piece of equipment.

1
Buy any NTAG213 NFC sticker
They cost about a penny each in bulk. White, weatherproof, and self-adhesive. The exact brand doesn't matter — any NTAG213 or NTAG215 works.
2
Stick it inside the hive roof or on the equipment
The rebate of a crown board or inside a roof keeps it dry and protected. For supers and brood boxes, the inside edge near the hand-hold is best.
3
Write the hive ID to the tag in the app
Open the hive in the app, tap Write NFC Tag, hold your phone near the sticker. Done in 3 seconds. You'll never need to write it again.
4
Tap at any time to open the hive instantly
Hold your phone near the tag — the full hive record opens automatically. No unlocking, no searching, no typing. Works offline too.
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Photo — NFC sticker inside crown board
Close-up of an NFC sticker in position inside a crown board rebate or hive roof. Shows exactly where to place it. Very practical reference photo.
Tucked inside the crown board rebate Protected from weather, easy to reach without removing boxes — the ideal placement for hive NFC tags.
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Screenshot — "Write NFC Tag" screen in app
The NFC write screen on your Android phone — "Hold phone near tag" prompt visible. Shows the setup step is as simple as advertised.
Setup takes 3 seconds Open the hive in the app, tap Write NFC Tag, hold your phone near the sticker. That's it — done for the life of the tag.
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Photo — Scanning hive tag at apiary
Phone held to a hive, standing at the apiary. Could be you or another beekeeper. The scan-in-action photo.
At the hive Tap to open the full hive record in under a second.
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Screenshot — Hive record after scan
Phone screen showing the hive record that appears after an NFC scan — hive name, health, last inspection, queen status. Real data from one of your hives.
Instant record Every detail of that hive — health, queen, last inspection, supers — visible immediately.
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Photo — Honey jar with NFC sticker
A jar of your honey with a small NFC sticker on the label. On a table, in a row, or held in hand. Shows the customer traceability use case beautifully.
On your honey jars Customers scan to see exactly which hive their honey came from, and when.
Everything you can tag

Hives, equipment, supers,
even honey jars.

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Hives

The most common use. One tap brings up the full hive record — last inspection, health status, queen details, super count, treatment history. Works offline.

  • Full inspection history on tap
  • Health status and queen details
  • Super count and fullness
  • Quick-add inspection from the scan screen
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Supers & Brood Boxes

Tag individual boxes and track them as they move between hives and apiaries. Know exactly which colony used that box, and what condition it's in.

  • Shows current hive and fullness status
  • Full extraction history for that super
  • Tracks location across apiaries
  • Condition and repair notes
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Equipment

Tag brood boxes, floors, crown boards, feeders — anything that moves between hives or apiaries. A tap tells you exactly where it came from, what condition it's in, and what maintenance it needs.

  • Full location history
  • Condition and maintenance log
  • Treatment and sterilisation records
  • Category filtering in-app
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Harvest Jars Customer-facing

Stick an NFC sticker on a honey jar. When a customer scans it, they see a public trace page — no login, no app needed — showing the apiary, hive, extraction date, and variety. A premium touch for artisan honey.

  • Public trace page — no login needed for customers
  • Shows apiary, hive, and harvest details
  • QR code alternative for non-NFC phones
  • Branded with your apiary name
Practical tips

Getting the most
from your tags.

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Where to stick them

On hives, the inside of the roof or the rebate of the crown board works well — protected from weather and easy to reach without removing boxes. Avoid the outside — propolis and weathering will lift the sticker over time.

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Which tags to buy

NTAG213 white stickers are the most common and cheapest — around 1–3p each in packs of 100. Search "NTAG213 NFC stickers" on Amazon or AliExpress. Avoid metal-backed tags unless mounting on metal surfaces.

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Using them in gloves

NFC works through thin rubber or nitrile gloves fine — the signal doesn't need skin contact. Position the back of your phone near the tag and hold briefly. Some phone cases reduce NFC range slightly.

Good to know

NFC in Android is typically active by default. You don't need to turn anything on — just open the app and hold the phone near the tag. If scanning doesn't trigger, check NFC is enabled in Android Settings → Connections.

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Photo — Open hive, scanning NFC inside roof
Hive open, roof to one side, scanning the NFC sticker inside the roof with your phone. Real beekeeping scene — smoker, bees, the works. The "it really works" photo.
Scanning the crown board rebate Hive open, roof to one side — phone held inside to tap the NFC sticker. Takes less than a second.
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Photo — Pack of NTAG213 NFC stickers
The actual NFC stickers you'd buy — white NTAG213 stickers from Amazon. Coin or finger for scale. Shows how tiny and cheap they are.
About 2p each from Amazon White NTAG213 NFC stickers. Weatherproof. Adhesive-backed. The exact ones used on all the hives above.

A note on iPhone.

Apple restricts NFC access on iPhone — apps can only read specific types of NFC tag, and background scanning (the kind that makes this seamless) is not available in the same way. As a result, NFC tag scanning is an Android-only feature in Ultimate Bee Management.

The full app — including inspection logging, AI analysis, queen management, harvest records, and the calendar — works on any desktop browser. Harvest jar QR codes can be scanned by any phone including iPhone. NFC hive/equipment tags are Android only.

Early Access

Tag your hives.
Know your apiary.

Join the early access list to be among the first to use NFC traceability on your own hives and equipment.

Request Early Access Read the full guide →