User Guide¶
Welcome to the Bifolk User Guide. This guide helps you learn how to use Bifolk to manage your hives, track your bees, record inspections, and keep your beekeeping organized.
Target Audience: Beekeepers and end users
What is Bifolk?¶
Bifolk is a web application designed for beekeepers. Whether you manage a few backyard hives or run a larger beekeeping operation, Bifolk helps you:
- Track all your hives and their health status
- Record inspections and observations
- Manage queen bees and their lineage
- Record beekeeping operations (feeding, treatments, maintenance)
- Track harvests with full traceability from hive to jar
- Manage your beekeeping inventory and supplies
- Work offline in the field with Progressive Web App technology
- Collaborate with family members, clubs, or cooperatives
Getting Started¶
New to Bifolk? Start here:
- Getting Started - Create your account and get oriented
- Dashboard - Understand your main screen
Core Features¶
Hive Management¶
- Hive Management - Create and manage production and breeding hives
- Inspections - Record detailed hive inspections
- Queen Management - Track queens, lineage, and replacements
Operations & Breeding¶
- Beekeeping Operations - Record feeding, treatments, and maintenance
- Breeding - Queen breeding programs and colony splits
Harvests & Products¶
- Harvests - Record harvests from your hives
- Honey Batches & Traceability - Track honey from harvest to jar with full traceability
Inventory¶
- Warehouse & Inventory - Track equipment, products, and supplies
Reports & Analysis¶
- Reports - Analyze harvests, health trends, costs, inventory value, sales, and honey traceability
Search¶
- Search - Quickly find hives, queens, honey batches, and inventory items across your organizations
Notifications¶
- Notifications - View and manage alerts about operations, imports, exports, and system updates
Mobile & Offline¶
- PWA & Offline Mode - Install Bifolk as an app and record operations offline
Your Account¶
- Profile & Settings - Manage your profile, language, and preferences
Understanding Organizations¶
In Bifolk, your hives and data belong to an organization. An organization can be:
- Personal - Just you and your hives
- Family - You and family members working together
- Club - A beekeeping club or association
- Cooperative - A beekeeping cooperative
- Commercial - A commercial beekeeping business
You can belong to multiple organizations. Each organization keeps its data separate, and you can switch between them using the organization selector in the sidebar.
Roles¶
Within an organization, members have different roles:
| Role | Can View | Can Create | Can Edit Own | Can Edit All | Can Delete |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Admin | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Member | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Viewer | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Your role determines what you can do. If you need additional permissions, contact your organization owner.
Quick Reference¶
| Task | Where to Go |
|---|---|
| Add a new hive | Hive Management |
| Record an inspection | Inspections |
| Add a queen | Queen Management |
| Record feeding or treatment | Operations |
| Record a harvest | Harvests |
| Track honey batches | Honey Batches & Traceability |
| Check inventory | Warehouse |
| View reports and analytics | Reports |
| Search for hives, queens, or items | Search |
| Check notifications | Notifications |
| Install Bifolk as app | PWA & Offline Mode |
| Change language | Profile Settings |
Language Support¶
Bifolk is available in English and German (Deutsch). You can change your language in your Profile Settings.
Related Documentation¶
- Admin Guide - For organization owners and administrators
- Technical Documentation - For developers
Ready to begin? Start with the Getting Started Guide.