Apiary Assistant vs Hive Log
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
Apiary Assistant
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Apiary Assistant is the all-in-one app for beekeepers who want healthy, productive hives. TRACK EVERYTHING - Organize apiaries and hives, with photos, status, and full history - Quick Check or guided Full Inspection โ with hands-free voice mode - Log mite washes and treatments; the app schedules your next check automatically - Record harvests, feedings, weights, queen events, and equipment STAY AHEAD OF VARROA - Mite-per-100-bees tracking with clear treat thresholds - Smart reminders tell you which hives need a check and why SEE YOUR SEASON AT A GLANCE - Dashboard charts for apiary health, mite load (with treat-threshold line), and harvest by product - Home-screen widget for hives, apiaries, and mite checks due ON YOUR WRIST (Apple Watch) - Your beekeeping to-dos and mite checks due, right on your watch - Add a complication to keep today's tasks on your watch face - Check tasks off from the watch โ changes sync straight back to your iPhone WEATHER THAT WORKS FOR BEES - Per-apiary conditions and inspection readiness - Alerts for cold, heat, wind, rain, and frost โ with a season archive WORK AS A TEAM - Share an apiary, assign tasks, and see who did what in the Activity Log - Everything syncs across iPhone, Apple Watch, Android, and the web dashboard MEET ABBY, YOUR AI BEEKEEPING ASSISTANT (Advanced) - Ask anything about hive management, varroa, queens, diseases, and seasonal tasks - Attach a photo โ "is this the queen?", "what disease is this?", "is this normal?" โ and Abby describes what she sees, her confidence, and how to verify it - Abby always reminds you that AI photo ID isn't always correct and points you to trusted resources like your state apiary inspector and local extension office Apiary Assistant offers optional Standard and Advanced subscriptions. Abby's AI chat and photo analysis are part of the Advanced plan. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the period; manage or cancel in your Apple Account settings. Privacy Policy: https://turtlebeehoney.com/apiary-assistant-privacy-policy/ Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ **AN APP THAT FITS YOUR EXPERIENCE Choose Beginner, Intermediate, or Seasoned. Beginners get step-by-step guidance and a month-by-month to-do list. Seasoned keepers get a fast, clean workspace with nothing in the way. Change it anytime. ** DIAGNOSE PROBLEMS FAST See something wrong in the brood? Tap the symptoms you observe and get the most likely diseases and pests โ ranked by likelihood, with reference photos and a full illustrated guide covering AFB, EFB, chalkbrood, varroa, small hive beetle, wax moth and more. ** WORKS EVERYWHERE, TOGETHER Use it on iPhone, Android, and the web โ all in sync. Share apiaries with a partner, a club, or a mentor and keep records together in real time. ** EVERYTHING YOU NEED IN THE YARD - Inspections, mite counts, treatments and harvests - Visual hive equipment stacks โ see every box, super and feeder - Queen rearing plans and family-tree lineage tracking - Weather-aware reminders and seasonal task lists - Expenses, shopping lists and yield tracking ** BUILT FOR REAL CONDITIONS - Sunlight-readable high-contrast mode - Colorblind-friendly palette - Voice capture โ log notes with gloves on - Ask Abby, your built-in beekeeping helper, anything KNOW YOUR FORAGE See which nectar and pollen plants are in season near your yard, month by month โ so you know when the flow is coming and when to feed. Start free. Keep better bees.
Hive Log
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Hive Log is the field journal beekeepers have always deserved โ built for those who respect the craft and want to understand what their hives are telling them before swarming, supersedure, or colony failure becomes a crisis. LOG EVERY INSPECTION IN UNDER 5 MINUTES Structured inspection forms cover what matters: weather, colony demeanor, population, brood pattern, queen status, food stores, and varroa mite counts. Voice dictation keeps your gloves clean. Every inspection is permanently recorded and searchable. AI BROOD FRAME ANALYSIS Photograph a brood frame and Hive Log's on-device AI assesses pattern quality (solid, spotty, or scattered), estimates worker and drone brood ratios, flags queen cells, and delivers an expert-level reading โ the kind of frame knowledge that takes years to develop. NEW: SHAREABLE BROOD REPORTS Export a beautifully annotated frame image with queen cells and brood zones marked, plus an AI-written frame report card โ perfect for asking a mentor or sharing with your bee club. NEW: ICLOUD SYNC ACROSS DEVICES Log on the iPhone in the bee yard, review on the iPad in the truck. Your hives, inspections, and harvests stay in sync across all your devices via your private iCloud. NEW: SMART REMINDERS & WIDGETS Get nudged when a hive hasn't been visited, tighter reminders through swarm season, and weather-aware "good day to inspect" alerts. A home- and lock-screen widget shows today's recommended inspections, color-coded by health. NEW: AI SEASON REPORT & EXPORT Produce a polished end-of-season apiary report โ per-hive health, mite history, yield, queen changes โ as a PDF, plus a CSV of all your records for club reporting, taxes, or selling nucs. VARROA MITE TRACKER Log alcohol wash and sugar shake counts. Hive Log tracks mite levels over time, alerts you when counts cross the 2% treatment threshold, and surfaces seasonal treatment recommendations by method. SWARM PREDICTION Hive Log analyzes population trends, queen cell observations, and crowding from recent inspections to flag swarm risk before you've lost a swarm to the neighborhood. APIARY CALENDAR A locally accurate nectar flow timeline based on your apiary's location โ bloom timing, inspection cadence, treatment windows, and harvest timing by month, with a 5-day inspection forecast. QUEEN TRACKER Record queen lineage, marking color, install date, and performance. Track the standard IBRA annual color coding. AI surfaces supersedure predictions when a queen is failing. YIELD RECORDS Log honey, wax, and propolis harvests per hive. Track multi-year yield trends and identify your most productive colonies. DESIGNED FOR BEEKEEPERS WHO KNOW THE VOCABULARY Hive Log doesn't dumb down the terminology. Supersedure, burr comb, queen excluder, varroa, sacbrood โ these are your words. The app speaks your language. FREE TIER: 1 hive, 5 inspections โ enough to try it on your first season. HOBBYIST ($4.99/month or $39/year): Up to 10 hives, AI brood analysis, apiary calendar, mite alerts, smart reminders, widgets, season reports, and iCloud sync. 7-day free trial. APIARY PRO ($14.99/month or $79.99 lifetime): Unlimited hives, multi-apiary management, and the commercial yard dashboard โ for small commercial beekeepers. Your data stays yours. Hive Log keeps records on your device and your private iCloud, and never sells or shares your beekeeping data. โโโ Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://brainrash.com/apps/hive-log/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Apiary Assistant at none against Hive Log's 4. Apiary Assistant also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Hive Log sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Apiary Assistant asks for nothing beyond the download.
Apiary Assistant ships an update monthly, Hive Log every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Apiary Assistant | Hive Log |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Monthly โ better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No โ better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, Apple Watch โ better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 โ better | 26.0 |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 49 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Timothy Miller | Justin Pruskowski |
In-app purchases
Apiary Assistant
No in-app purchases
Hive Log
- Hive Log Hobbyist (Monthly)$4.991 Month
- Hive Log Apiary Pro (Monthly)$9.991 Month
- Hive Log Hobbyist (Annual)$29.991 Year
- Hive Log Lifetime$49.99








