How to Use PollenOps: Getting Started Guide

New PollenOps users who complete the setup guide have a 90% 30-day retention rate. That's because PollenOps is built around a real pollination workflow, not a generic CRM retrofitted for beekeeping. If you can set up your first contract in under 20 minutes, you understand what the platform does and why it matters for your operation.

This guide walks you through exactly that: from first login to your first active contract with bloom alerts running.

TL;DR

• Commercial beekeeping operations that manage contracts on spreadsheets and phone calls spend 5-10 hours per week on administrative tasks that software handles automatically.
• Purpose-built beekeeping software centralizes contract lifecycle management, yard records, health documentation, and fleet logistics in one platform.
• The primary ROI drivers for operations software are fewer contract disputes, faster invoicing, and reduced time spent on administrative coordination.
• PollenOps is built specifically for commercial-scale pollination operations; it is not a hobbyist platform adapted for commercial use.
• Moving from spreadsheets to dedicated software typically pays for itself within one season in time savings and dispute prevention.

Step 1: Create Your Account and Set Up Your Profile

After signing up at pollenops.com, the setup wizard launches automatically on your first login. It asks for:

• Your operation name and primary contact information
• Your base state (for regulatory and bloom alert calibration)
• Your approximate hive count (this configures your dashboard view)
• Your primary crops (almond, blueberry, cherry, apple, or other)

You can change any of these settings later. The setup wizard uses your answers to pre-configure the most relevant features so your dashboard isn't cluttered with tools you don't need yet.

Step 2: Add Your Yards

Yards are the physical locations where your hives are placed. Every contract in PollenOps links to one or more yards, so adding your yard locations is the foundation of everything else.

To add a yard:

1. Go to Yards in the left navigation menu.
2. Click Add New Yard.
3. Enter a yard name (something you already call it: "Bakersfield North," "Smith Ranch," etc.).
4. Drop a pin on the map or enter GPS coordinates.
5. Add access notes (gate codes, road conditions, nearest water source).
6. Set your hive capacity for the yard.

You don't need to add all your yards at once. Start with the yards tied to your first contract.

Your GPS yard locations feed into the pollination contract software automatically, so every contract you create can reference a specific pinned location rather than a verbal description.

Step 3: Create Your First Contract

With at least one yard in place, you're ready to build a contract.

To create a contract:

1. Go to Contracts in the navigation.
2. Click New Contract.
3. Enter the grower name and contact details.
4. Select the crop from the dropdown.
5. Set your delivery date range and expected pickup date.
6. Enter the contracted hive count and minimum strength requirement.
7. Set your per-hive rate and payment terms.
8. Assign the contract to a yard (or multiple yards if you're splitting a large contract).

The contract builder in PollenOps walks you through all standard fields. Every field maps to the elements of a legally enforceable agreement, so you're not missing clauses that matter.

Optional at this stage: Upload a signed paper contract as a PDF if you negotiated this one before starting with PollenOps. Future contracts can be drafted and signed inside the platform.

Step 4: Log Your Hive Inventory

After your contract is created, assign specific colonies to it. This connects your physical hives to the contract in your records.

To log hives:

1. Open your contract.
2. Click Assign Hives.
3. Either enter individual hive IDs or enter a hive count for the yard.

Full individual hive tracking is available if you use numbered hive tags. But if you're managing by yard-count (common for larger operations), you can record counts without individual IDs. PollenOps works both ways.

Step 5: Activate Bloom Timing Alerts

Bloom alerts are one of the most-used features for commercial pollination beekeepers. They give you advance notice of predicted bloom in your contract regions so you can time delivery correctly.

To activate alerts:

1. Go to Bloom Alerts in the navigation.
2. Click Add Alert.
3. Select the crop (almond, blueberry, cherry, etc.).
4. Select the region or county.
5. Set your notification preference (email, SMS, or in-app).
6. Set your lead time preference (7 days out, 14 days out, or both).

PollenOps pulls from NOAA weather data and USDA growing degree day models to calculate alert timing. When bloom is approaching, you get a notification with the predicted timing and a confidence rating.

For more on how alerts work, see PollenOps pricing plans to confirm bloom alerts are included in your subscription level.

Step 6: Run Your Pre-Move Assessment

Before delivery, use PollenOps to score your colonies and document compliance.

1. Open your contract.
2. Click Pre-Move Assessment.
3. Work through your yard, entering a strength score for each colony.
4. The platform flags any colonies below the contract minimum in real time.
5. Generate a pre-delivery compliance report to share with your grower.

This step is what separates a professional delivery from a delivery that ends in a dispute.

Step 7: Record Delivery and Activate Monitoring

On delivery day:

1. Open the contract and click Record Delivery.
2. Enter the delivery timestamp (auto-populated from your device).
3. Enter the final hive count delivered.
4. GPS coordinates are captured automatically.
5. Note any access or yard issues.

After delivery, the contract moves to "Active" status and any monitoring features (if you're using sensor integrations) become active.

What to Do After Your First Contract Is Set Up

Once you've run through the setup for one contract, the rest of your operation maps onto the same structure. Add your remaining yards, build contracts for each grower, and assign hives.

The average operation completes full setup (all yards, all contracts, full hive inventory) in 2-3 hours for a 500-hive operation. Larger operations with more yards take proportionally longer, but the workflow is the same.

The PollenOps help center has short video walkthroughs for every feature in the platform. If you're stuck at any step, the support team is reachable via in-app chat within business hours.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I set up my first pollination contract in PollenOps?

Start by adding the yard where the hives will be placed, then go to Contracts and click New Contract. Enter your grower details, crop type, delivery dates, hive count, strength minimum, per-hive rate, and payment terms. Assign the contract to your yard and optionally assign individual hive IDs or a hive count. The setup wizard guides first-time users through every field. Most users complete their first contract setup in under 20 minutes. Once the contract is created, you can generate a grower-facing copy, track pre-move assessments, and record delivery from the same contract record.

How do I add yard locations to the PollenOps GPS map?

Go to Yards in the navigation menu and click Add New Yard. Enter a yard name, then either drop a pin on the interactive map or type in GPS coordinates. You can also add access notes, gate codes, and road condition information that your drivers can reference from the app. The GPS coordinates you set here are used automatically when you record hive deliveries and movements, so every placement has a timestamped, geo-tagged record. You can add yards before or after creating contracts, but assigning a contract to a yard requires the yard to already exist in the system.

How do I activate bloom timing alerts for my area in PollenOps?

Go to Bloom Alerts in the navigation and click Add Alert. Select your crop, your region or county, and your preferred notification method. You can set alerts to fire 7 days or 14 days before predicted bloom. PollenOps calculates bloom timing from NOAA weather data and USDA growing degree day models, and the alerts include a confidence rating based on current forecast accuracy. You can set multiple alerts for different crops and regions. When an alert triggers, you receive a notification with the predicted bloom window and a link to your affected contracts so you can confirm delivery timing immediately.

What does purpose-built commercial beekeeping software do that a spreadsheet cannot?

Dedicated software connects data across your operation in ways spreadsheets cannot: a contract record links to the specific hives assigned to it, which links to the yard location, which links to health inspection records and treatment logs. When a grower calls to dispute a hive count, you can pull the delivery record, timestamped photos, and GPS-confirmed location in 30 seconds rather than searching three spreadsheets and an email thread. This integration is where the time savings and dispute-prevention value comes from.

How long does it take to migrate from spreadsheets to beekeeping software?

Most commercial operators complete the core migration in 2-4 weeks, starting with current contract records and active yard locations. Historical data (past seasons' inspection records, old contracts) can be migrated over time rather than all at once. The practical recommendation is to start with the current season's live data and add historical records as time allows. The operational improvement from having current data in the system is immediate; the historical data adds analytical depth over subsequent seasons.

Is there a free trial available for PollenOps?

Contact PollenOps directly to confirm current trial and demo options. Most commercial operators benefit from a walkthrough of the contract management and yard tracking modules against their own operation's data before committing, since the fit between the platform and your specific circuit and crop mix is the most important evaluation factor.

Sources

• USDA Agricultural Research Service
• Bee Informed Partnership
• American Beekeeping Federation (ABF)
• American Honey Producers Association
• Project Apis m.

Get Started with PollenOps

Commercial beekeeping operations that move from spreadsheets to purpose-built software consistently report fewer disputes, faster invoicing, and less time on administrative work during peak season. PollenOps is built specifically for commercial-scale pollination operations. See how the platform fits your operation.