Medicine record book for beekeepers: document treatments properly
You record the medicine, batch, quantity, withdrawal period and the treated colonies with each treatment. From this, your medicine record book is created as a PDF, per apiary and year.
Anyone who keeps bees and places honey on the market must be able to prove every use of a veterinary medicine. In Germany this record is called the medicine record book (Bestandsbuch), in Austria the Bestandsverzeichnis and in Switzerland the stock control (Bestandeskontrolle). They all mean the same thing: a complete, traceable record of your treatments.
Who has to keep a medicine record book
Bees are food-producing animals. As soon as you place honey on the market, the same record-keeping obligation applies to you as to any other animal keeper. The number of your colonies makes no difference: even with two colonies you keep a medicine record book as soon as you use a veterinary medicine.
And you do that sooner than many people think. Varroacides are veterinary medicines, including those sold over the counter. Formic acid, oxalic acid, lactic acid and thymol products count as such as soon as they are used on a colony as an authorised product. If you treat in summer, you are required to keep records.
Purely biotechnical methods do not need to be recorded: cutting out drone brood, comb trapping, brood removal. No medicine is used there.
What goes in it
The details you must record for each use are set out in Article 108 of Regulation (EU) 2019/6. In essence, they are:
- Date of use
- Name of the medicine
- Quantity used
- The animals treated, which for bees means which colonies
- Duration of treatment
- Withdrawal period, even if it is zero days
- Origin of the product: name and address of the supplier and the proof of purchase
- The prescribing vet, if one was involved
On top of that come the receipts: dispensing and purchase receipts must be kept, not just your own records. During an inspection, the two are compared. If your book shows formic acid for twenty colonies but you only bought one bottle, you need to be able to explain that.
What iBeekeeper records when you treat
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The medicine record book as a PDF
Under “Reports”, the web app produces the medicine record book (Germany), per apiary and year, with the details required by Article 108 of Regulation (EU) 2019/6 and § 2 THAMNV (the German ordinance on the use and recording of veterinary medicines by animal keepers). The header shows your details as the animal keeper with registration number and the location of the colonies, and at the bottom there is the field for your signature. If a detail is missing, the PDF shows “no data”, and a note gives the number of incomplete entries.
Once a year is complete, you close it. After that, a treatment can only be changed or cancelled with an amendment note. Time, person, old and new value are then listed in the appendix “Changes after closing”.
The medicine record book as a PDF is available with a package and during the trial period, and for 90 days after the contract ends. Data export under “Settings” is always free, even without a package.
What iBeekeeper does not do for you: keep the receipts and check at the end that your details are correct. The app is no substitute for legal advice.
How long you must keep records
The records must be kept for at least five years, counted from the date of use. This also applies if you have long since given away the colonies or stop beekeeping.
Five years is a long time for a paper notebook. It sits in the shed, gets wet, disappears when you move house, and a treatment from 2023 can no longer be reconstructed. Records kept digitally are permitted for this, as long as they are legible, traceable without alteration and can be presented on request.
What happens during an inspection
Inspections are carried out by the veterinary office. For beekeepers this does not happen routinely, but it does happen, for example as part of residue monitoring, during a foulbrood outbreak in a restricted zone or for a specific reason.
You are then asked to present the records for the period under review, together with the receipts for obtaining the products. The check is whether all uses are fully documented and whether purchases and consumption match.
The most common shortcoming is mundane: individual treatments are missing because they were never written down. Not ill will, but the scrap of paper that wasn't at hand at the apiary.
Notebook or app?
| Feature | Paper notebook | iBeekeeper |
|---|---|---|
| None | None | None |
| None | None | None |
| None | None | None |
| None | None | None |
| None | None | None |
| None | None | None |
Record your next treatment where it happens
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Do you keep bees in Switzerland? There the record is called stock control (Bestandeskontrolle), and iBeekeeper produces a ready printout on the official form: Stock control for Swiss beekeepers.
How the treatment journal is structured in the app is explained on the treatment journal module page. You will find all reports on the Reports page. And whether a treatment is needed at all is worked out for you from the mite drop by the varroa indicator.
This text reflects the situation at the time of publication and is no substitute for legal advice. The regulations in force are binding; if in doubt, ask your veterinary office or your beekeeping association.
Frequently asked questions
What does iBeekeeper record for a varroa treatment?
Date or period, product, quantity, concentration, the treated colonies, the withdrawal period, the person applying it and, if needed, a note. In the web app you can add the batch, the supplier's name and address, receipt number and, where applicable, the prescribing vet. In the app you enter treatments right at the apiary, even without a signal, and can record one treatment for several colonies at once.
Does the app replace my medicine record book?
For Germany, iBeekeeper produces the medicine record book as a PDF, per apiary and year, with the details required by Article 108 of Regulation (EU) 2019/6. You check it, sign it and keep it together with your receipts. If a detail is missing, the PDF points this out.
For which countries is there a ready-made printout?
For Germany the medicine record book, for Switzerland the stock control and the inventory list of veterinary medicines. The treatment journal is available for everyone. Which forms you are offered depends on the country in your profile.
How long do I have to keep the records?
In Germany, five years are required. Digitally, this takes care of itself: your entries are kept and can be exported at any time, even if you fall back to the free package. The medicine record book as a PDF is available with a package and during the trial period, and for 90 days after the contract ends.