Colony Strength Assessment Checklist for Pollination Contracts

California almond growers have rejected loads failing 6-frame minimums. When it happens, you don't get a second chance to swap out weak colonies. Documentation of your pre-delivery assessment is what protects you when a grower's inspector sees something different than what you signed a contract to deliver.

Standardized assessment reduces grower disputes over hive strength by providing documented evidence. A colony you assessed at 6.5 frames on January 28 with photos, inspector initials, and GPS coordinates can withstand a grower's claim that it arrived at 5 frames far better than a verbal assertion can.

TL;DR

The California Almond Board's research supports 6 frames of bees as the minimum effective colony strength for almond pollination.
Many growers now specify 8 frames for premium contracts, with rates at $200-215/hive versus $185-195 for 6-frame minimums.
Hive strength assessment should be documented by yard, date, and assessor to create a defensible record for contract compliance.
A colony assessed at the required strength in January can fall below minimum by February delivery if varroa loads are high or weather stress is severe.
Third-party inspection at delivery is the cleanest resolution for strength disputes and protects operators as well as growers.

What Colony Strength Assessment Includes

A complete pre-delivery strength assessment captures:

Frame count by colony: The number of frames covered with bees. This is the core metric in most pollination contracts. Standard method: remove each frame, estimate bee coverage on both faces (a frame "covered with bees" means bees on both sides, roughly 2,500-3,000 bees per face), and assign a frame count with one decimal point precision (e.g., 6.5 frames).

Brood pattern assessment: Active laying queen with healthy brood increases confidence in the frame count. Bees on empty comb don't count toward strength the same way bees on active brood do. Note whether brood is present, the approximate area of capped brood, and whether any disease signs are visible.

Queen status: Is the queen visible or confirmed present (eggs and young larvae indicate a queen within the last 3 days)? A colony with 7 frames of bees but no queen is not a reliable pollination unit. It will decline rapidly over the contract period.

Store level: What's the honey and pollen store status? Colonies going into a 6-week almond contract need adequate stores. A colony with bees but no stores will need feeding in the orchard and may die if not managed.

Overall health: Any visible disease signs, unusual dead-bee counts, parasitic mite-syndrome symptoms, or other health flags.

GPS coordinates and timestamp: The assessment record needs to be timestamped and location-stamped to establish when and where the assessment occurred relative to the delivery date.

The Pre-Delivery Assessment Workflow

7-10 Days Before Loading

First assessment pass: walk the entire yard and flag colonies at risk of not meeting contract minimums. Your goal is to identify understrength colonies with enough time to intervene.

At this stage, your options for understrength colonies:

Consolidate two weak colonies into one stronger unit
Add a shaker frame of bees and brood from a strong colony
Remove from the delivery count and replace with a stronger colony from reserve
Accept the understrength and adjust your contract delivery number

This early assessment is your decision-making window. Don't skip it.

24-48 Hours Before Loading

Final assessment: systematic frame count on all colonies scheduled for delivery. This is the assessment that goes into your documentation record.

Assessment protocol:

Work yard by yard in a systematic pattern (don't skip around)
Have an assistant record while you assess: one person calling numbers, one recording
For each hive, record colony ID, frame count, queen status (Q = present, Q? = uncertain, NQ = no queen), brood score (1-3: light, moderate, heavy), and any flags
Photograph each colony that's at or near the minimum threshold
Complete the assessment before dusk. This is daytime work, not night work.

Recording format:

|---|---|---|---|---|---|

| Y7-001 | 7.0 | Q | 3 | Good | — |

| Y7-002 | 5.5 | Q? | 2 | Fair | Below min |

| Y7-003 | 6.5 | Q | 3 | Good | — |

In PollenOps, this data enters via mobile app during the assessment, with no paper transcription lag. The system automatically flags colonies below your contract minimum and generates a summary report showing the count of compliant colonies for each contract destination.

Loading Day Verification

As pallets load onto the truck, the crew lead does a quick visual confirmation. Any colony that looks significantly different from the assessment (heavy bearding, unusual activity, obvious population change) gets re-assessed before loading. Document any substitutions. If you swap a borderline colony for a stronger one, record which hive replaced which.

What Documentation You Need

For each delivery, your documentation package should include:

Assessment summary: Total colony count assessed, number meeting minimum strength, number below minimum, any colonies excluded.

Colony-level record: Frame count, queen status, and health score for every colony in the delivery.

Photographic evidence: Date-stamped photos of a representative sample of colonies, plus all colonies that are at or near the minimum threshold.

Assessor identity: Who conducted the assessment. If you have an independent third party conduct assessments (some operations use local apiarists for credibility), their credentials should be recorded.

Date and location: Assessment date, yard GPS coordinates, and the time window of the assessment.

Connection to the delivery contract: The assessment record should reference the specific contract (grower, delivery date, contracted colony count) it applies to.

Dealing With Grower Inspection Disputes

Even with thorough documentation, grower inspectors sometimes disagree with your assessment. The dispute process:

At delivery: If a grower inspector rejects colonies, request a written record of which specific colonies are rejected and why, with the inspector's name and their assessment of each colony's frame count.

Your documentation vs. theirs: If your assessment from 48 hours prior shows 6.5 frames and the grower's inspector claims 5.0 frames at delivery, the biological reality is that colony population can decline in 48 hours, but not by 30% in healthy colonies. Weather, stress from loading, and open time can cause temporary clustering, making colonies appear weaker immediately after transport than they were at origin.

Resolution mechanisms: Your contract should specify a dispute resolution process, usually involving an independent third-party inspection. Some operators include language that allows temporary transport-related cluster reduction without penalty if colonies recover to minimum strength within 24 hours of placement.

PollenOps documentation as evidence: Timestamped, GPS-located digital assessment records with photographic evidence create a stronger evidentiary foundation than paper notes or verbal descriptions. When a payment dispute goes to mediation or small claims court, digitally timestamped records are more credible than handwritten notes that could have been created after the fact.

The Hive Strength Verification Document

Before leaving a delivery site, obtain signed delivery confirmation from the grower or their authorized representative. The document should include:

Delivery date and time
Colony count accepted
Grower representative signature and name
Any noted exceptions or conditions
GPS location of delivery

This signed document, combined with your pre-delivery assessment records, constitutes a complete delivery record. It protects you from later claims that you delivered fewer or weaker colonies than agreed, and it gives the grower documentation for their own records.

FAQ

What does a colony strength assessment include?

A complete pre-delivery assessment includes: frame count by colony (number of frames covered with bees), queen status confirmation, brood pattern and coverage area, store levels (honey and pollen), overall health observations, and documentation of the assessment date, location, and assessor. For contract deliveries, the assessment should be completed 24-48 hours before loading and documented with timestamps and photographs of threshold-level colonies.

How do you document colony strength for a pollination contract?

Enter assessment data into a digital record during the assessment. Mobile app entry during the yard visit ensures accuracy and creates an immediate timestamp. The record should include colony-level frame counts, a summary of contract-compliant versus below-minimum colonies, photographic evidence of threshold colonies, and the assessor's identity. At delivery, obtain a signed delivery confirmation from the grower specifying the accepted colony count. PollenOps links pre-delivery assessment records directly to the corresponding contract for complete documentation.

What is the standard method for counting frames of bees?

The industry standard is to assess each frame individually by pulling it from the hive and estimating bee coverage on both sides. A "frame covered with bees" has bees present on most of the usable comb surface on both sides, roughly 2,500-3,000 bees per frame face. Count with one decimal precision (6.0, 6.5, 7.0) to capture colonies near threshold. Assessments should be conducted during warm daytime hours when bees are active on frames rather than clustered in the center of the box, which can undercount actual population.

How is hive strength measured for commercial contract compliance?

Hive strength is typically measured by counting frames of bees: the number of frames in the brood box that are covered (both faces) by worker bees. A frame covered on both faces counts as one frame of bees. Some assessors use a modified approach counting only the top face of each frame. The contract should specify the measurement method, since a hive assessed at 6 frames by one method might be 5 frames by another. Third-party inspection using a consistent, documented method is the cleanest standard for compliance.

What causes hives to fall below strength requirements between assessment and delivery?

Several factors can reduce colony strength between pre-season assessment and delivery: high varroa loads with insufficient treatment response, poor winter weather in northern states during transport south, queen failure or queen loss in the weeks before delivery, and nutritional stress from limited forage. Commercial operators typically re-assess colonies 1-2 weeks before departure to confirm strength has been maintained, replacing any colonies that have declined with stronger hives from their reserve inventory.

Can strength requirements be met with a recently split colony?

No. A recently split colony (within 4-6 weeks) will not have a full brood cycle's worth of adult workers emerging to maintain population. A split colony may appear to have adequate frames at the time of split but will decline in population over the following weeks as older workers die without emerging brood to replace them. Colonies going to almond pollination should have had their most recent split at least 8-10 weeks before delivery to allow full population recovery.

Sources

USDA Agricultural Research Service
Bee Informed Partnership
American Beekeeping Federation (ABF)
Almond Board of California
Project Apis m.

Get Started with PollenOps

Hive strength documentation is the foundation of contract compliance and dispute prevention. PollenOps structures strength assessment records, delivery confirmations, and inspection data so you have the evidence you need when questions arise about contract performance.