Asking questions
Stinger answers from your records — the same data the colony detail screen shows — and tells you how old a reading is rather than passing old news off as current.
- "What's the status of Bench 3?" — type, boxes, queen (with how long ago), latest notes. A colony with nothing recorded yet is said plainly: "Bench 3 in North Yard — no inspection on record yet."
- "When did I last treat Bench 1, and what did I use?"
- "How many deep boxes do I have in the warehouse?"
- "Do I have enough supers for the flow?"
- "What's the weather?" — the same forecast Stinger uses for its hot-weather treatment warning.
- "Go to Bench 1." / "Show me North Yard." — opens that screen.
A question never moves you. Asking about Bench 3 while you are working Bench 1 answers about Bench 3 and leaves you on Bench 1 — only "inspecting Bench 3" or "go to Bench 3" moves you. If your next words are an observation with no colony named, Stinger asks once rather than guessing: "Log that to Bench 3, the one you just asked about, or to Bench 1, where you are anchored?" Answer with the colony name, "the one I asked about", or "where I am". Your answer moves you to that colony ("Now on Bench 3."). If Stinger cannot match what it heard to a colony it repeats the question with what it heard — "I heard 'And'. Log that to…" — and keeps listening; nothing is guessed from a fragment.
Questions are free-form — these are shapes, not magic words. If Stinger cannot find the name you said, it asks instead of guessing.
Asking about an apiary
Ask which colonies of an apiary are in a state and Stinger reads every colony's record and answers from it — nothing is written. Six states: queenless, weak, dead-outs, nucs, inspected today and need space — the same words the bulk actions use. Name the apiary, or Stinger uses the one you are working in.
- "Which colonies are weak in Rodman?" — "Weak in Rodman: 2 colonies — 3C at 4 of 10 frames, 3 days ago; 4D at 2 of 5 frames, yesterday."
- "Any queenless ones in Rodman?" · "Which colonies need space here?" · "How many dead-outs in Rodman?" · "Which ones did I inspect today?"
- "Everyone in Rodman except the nucs?"
- "How many colonies are in Rodman?" — no state word is the whole apiary: "Rodman has 12 active colonies — 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D and 6A, and 7 more."
The answer speaks up to five names and the count; a longer list ends "and 4 more" and the full list is on the record. With a hive configuration set (Settings → Organization), "need space" names the box each colony needs next — "2C (a medium), 3 days ago; 3D (a deep)". Each reading carries how old it is; a dead-out or a nuc is a fact, not a reading, so it has no age. If nothing matches, Stinger says so with the count it looked at — "None of the 16 colonies in Rodman is queenless." An apiary Stinger does not know is refused by name, never guessed. A follow-up that names only a state — "the queenless ones" right after asking about Rodman — is answered for Rodman: Stinger keeps the apiary of your last question for half an hour.