BEE INFORMED Sentinel App User Guide
- June 4, 2024
- BEE INFORMED
Table of Contents
Sentinel App Quick Start Guide 2022
Sentinel App
First, Register for an account at Research.Beeinformed.org and follow the App and Dashboard Protocol https://beeinformed.org/citizen-science/sentinel- apiaries/ to download and install the app. The general workflow of the application is to use the mobile app to enter data. Then sync that data to the server and go online to view that data.
Once setup, your app should look something like this screen, which has
features…
Gear icon, upper right: This links to login/out, and app configuration.
A list of recent sample events will populate as you enter data. New records
will also be counted in the ovals under New Records. These have not been
synced to the server. Once you click the Sync With BIP button, the data will
be saved on the server and viewable there. The counts will then go back to
zero and appear as this screen. To get started …
Enter Beekeeper/s (Apiary owners): Under the text “New Records” you can
select Beekeepers to enter a new one. Enter your information if you are only
collecting data from your bees, or enter more people if also collecting data
from other beekeepers.
Next, you should enter locations. Once you have entered beekeepers and
locations, you can reuse them in the future. You will not need to re-enter
them.
Enter Location/s: Click the Locations line, to create new locations.
Pick From Map is best. This will populate GPS points. You can provide
additional detail such as street address. Adding the State and County is
helpful for us to populate your data to the regional map online.
Note: Your specific location will not be publicly shared to protect your
privacy.
When done, be sure to click the floppy disk icon in the upper right-hand
corner to Save your work. Then click the back arrow in the upper left corner
to return to the home screen.
Back at the home screen, we see we have one new beekeeper and location under
New Records. Now, we can either Take Samples or record our recent management
history.
Let’s enter the recent Management that has been done to the colonies. Select
the Management Actions row in the list below New Records.
When selecting, “Management Actions”, the next screen looks like this. From here, click the Plus sign upper right to create a new one.
Select the previously entered beekeeper and location where it says.
You can back date the management to capture past events. If you are estimating
the dates, record that.
If the management applies to all the colonies at the location, you can leave
the Colonies entry blank, but it is best to specify the colony numbers,
especially if not all colonies are treated the same. Tap “Select a Colony”.
From this screen, you can type colony numbers in beside the magnifier, then click “Add”.
Once colonies are added, select them to apply the management to them. In this
screen four colonies are selected, while colonies “2” and “3” are not
selected.
Once entered, your colony numbers are available for reuse in other screens.
Please carefully type each one, and you won’t have to do that again.
Now, I have a May 2 Management on four colonies. I can add more detail such as
Feed Type, then click the save button.
Under Action Type, there are additional choices such as Treatment, Requeen,
and Change Equipment. The details provided for each choice vary.
After saving, click the back arrow to return to home screen nd
Back at the home screen, we can enter more recent Management Actions, or we
can go to the apiary and “Take Samples” by clicking the button.
Note: Some participants prefer to record data on paper when in the Apiary, and
later use the app the enter their paper notes. If you do this, you will want
to review the forms and prepare your datasheet first to be sure to capture all
the data.
- Select “Take Samples”
- On the next screen, select the Beekeeper or apiary owner of where you are sampling. You can create a new one from this screen too.
- A new screen will open, there select the Location you are at. You can create a new one from this screen too.
This is the Sample Event screen. Enter some details and select “+ Sample”.
Notes:
The sampler is the person making the observations while the Beekeeper is the
owner or manager of bees. Event notes are about this date and location, while
after you select “+ Sample” you can make notes about each colony.
On the Sample screen, it has 3 tabs for details about the colony.
Once you save and return to the Sample Event screen, the samples are listed. You can enter more from the “+ Sample” button. Other fields on the Sample Event screen are seen here. When all samples are in, click the save button, then the back arrow.
Back at home screen, we see one sample event. If done, AND you have a GOOD network connection, ready to “SYNC WITH BIP”.
The app will let you know its Syncing and if it successful.
If successful, the records are moved to the Saved Records section and viewable
there. These records are no longer editable on the app. If a correction is
needed, please contact
us, until data editing is available on the website.
Once your data is Synced, you can go to Research.beeinformed.org to view reports or download data. After logging in, click on the User Dashboard link in the topbar menu
From there, you can Export your data, or view the Sentinel Report. If you have data from multiple beekeepers or from multiple years, make those selections before clicking the Sentinel Report button
