Itsap institut de l'abeille

What Itsap institut de l'abeille does

ITSAP, Institut de l'abeille is a French non-profit applied research institute (association loi 1901) founded in 2010 to support the development of professional beekeeping and pollination in France. It operates at the interface of scientific research (CNRS, INRAe, MNHN, Agroscope, CARI), beekeeping professionals (notably the regional ADA network), and public authorities. Its statutory mission is fourfold: to advance knowledge on the honeybee, apiculture, and pollination; to develop methods and tools that assess bee health, apiary practices, and apicultural system performance; to create and technoeconomically evaluate innovative solutions; and to transmit expertise to partners, public authorities, and regulatory bodies.

Its service portfolio comprises six fee-based service lines: Bilan écologique (ecological assessment), Bilan sanitaire (health assessment), Bilan technique (technical assessment), Expérimentations (experimental testing), Conseil (advisory consulting), and Interventions (educational interventions), with the latter delivered under a QUALIOPI-certified training partnership with ACTA. Its published outputs include the Varroappli infestation monitoring application, the Annuaire des laboratoires laboratory directory, the digital wax quality guide, the Cahier de miellerie traceability notebook, and French honey market studies issued annually since 2019. Active R&D areas cover Varroa management (notably the cross-regional Win'Var project), genetic selection including Varroa-resistance traits (SMR, VSH), Asian hornet control, ecotoxicology, agroecology, and queen/drone breeding methods (including cryopreservation of drone semen by dialysis, Wegener et al. 2014).

ITSAP is financed through three streams: recurring membership fees paid by apicultural, technical, and trade associations; fee-based professional services and certified training; and donations via HelloAsso plus public funding (CASDAR through FranceAgriMer). Its governance couples a Board of Directors — regional ADA representatives, agricultural development networks, and inter-professional bodies — with a Scientific and Technical Orientation Committee (COST) chaired by ACTA. The institute is operationally headquartered at the INRAe site in Avignon (scientific, technical, and administrative seat) with its registered office at 149 rue de Bercy, Paris, runs a small technical team of roughly 24 staff under General Director Axel Decourtye, and is not venture-backed.

Name

Itsap institut de l'abeille

Legal name

ITSAP, Institut de l'abeille

Website

https://itsap.asso.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

French non-profit applied research institute founded in 2010 supporting professional beekeeping and pollination. It delivers ecological, health, and technical assessments, decision-support digital tools, certified training, and annual honey market studies to beekeepers, associations, and public authorities in France.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Apicultural Research and Advisory Services

NAICS

Apiculture (112910), Apiculture (11291)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Testing Laboratories (8734), Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Agricultural Prod-Livestock & Animal Specialties (200)

akta.pro primary industry

Beekeeping Training, Education & Advisory Services (AFAEAHAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Apiary Management Services (Contract Beekeeping, Hive Maintenance) (AFAEAHAJ), Beekeeping & Apiculture (EDAOAOAL), Biologicals Regulatory, Testing & Quality Assurance Services (AFABAEAO)

Keywords

• Apicultural research services
• Beekeeping technical advisory
• Honeybee health monitoring
• Varroa management tools
• Pollination ecosystem studies

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership fees: Association created in 2010 whose members are apicultural, technical, or trade structures, or structures wishing to support national apicultural development. Members pay fees that fund the institute's operations.
2. Fee-based professional services: Services offered to associations, companies, and local authorities engaged in beekeeping development or bee protection, including ecological assessments, health audits, technical analyses, experimentation, consulting, and educational interventions. Part of a certified QUALIOPI training partnership with ACTA.
3. Donations and public support: The institute accepts donations through HelloAsso platform and benefits from public funding mechanisms such as CASDAR via France AgriMer for research projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

ITSAP Institut de l'abeille is an applied technical and scientific institute that delivers fee-based professional services (ecological, sanitary, and technical assessments, experimentation, consulting, and educational interventions) and decision-support tools to French beekeepers, beekeeping associations, farmers, and public authorities. It coordinates observatories on techno-economic, health, and environmental data in French apiculture and publishes annual honey market studies and technical guides.

Product overview

ITSAP Institut de l'abeille is a technical and scientific institute for beekeeping and pollination that offers a portfolio of professional services and digital tools for beekeepers. The core service offerings include ecological assessments (Bilan écologique), health assessments (Bilan sanitaire), technical assessments (Bilan technique), experimentation services, advisory consulting (Conseil), and educational interventions. These are complemented by specialized tools including Varroappli for Varroa mite monitoring, a laboratory directory (Annuaire des laboratoires), a digital wax quality guide, and the miellerie traceability notebook. The institute also publishes annual honey market studies providing market intelligence to the French beekeeping sector. The offering functions as a unified advisory and research services portfolio rather than a software platform, with tools designed to support decision-making for professional beekeepers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bilan écologique Ecological assessment service monitoring honeybees as indicator species to evaluate environmental quality in real field conditions, delivered to associations, companies, and local authorities engaged in apiculture or bee protection.
• Bilan sanitaire Sanitary assessment service describing the health status of honeybee colonies and identifying biological, climatic, or chemical stressors, delivered to beekeeping associations and organizations.
• Bilan technique Technical assessment analyzing innovations for practicality, cost, and acceptability, supporting beekeeping organizations and authorities in evaluating new apicultural solutions.
• Expérimentations Experimental testing service measuring the effectiveness of innovative solutions including medications, nutrition, equipment, and genetic strains, delivered to beekeeping organizations and public partners.
• Conseil Advisory consulting service in beekeeping and apidology, supporting clients in designing and implementing good practices and amenities for bee preservation.
• Interventions pédagogiques Educational presentations on bee health, habitat, breeding, technico-economic profiles, product quality, sector organization, and stakeholder interactions, delivered through ACTA QUALIOPI-certified training partnership.
• Varroappli Digital application for recording Varroa mite infestation data and comparing it against reference values to monitor and manage Varroa infestation levels in apiaries.
• Annuaire des laboratoires Directory of laboratories in France and neighboring countries capable of analyzing hive matrices and hive products, helping beekeepers identify testing facilities.
• Guide numérique sur la cire Digital guide for improving the quality of beeswax for beekeeping use, covering production, transformation, and quality preservation with technical, scientific, and regulatory information.
• Cahier de miellerie Honey house traceability notebook for ensuring traceability of honey production, distributed through ACTA Editions.
• Études Marché du miel Annual market intelligence studies analyzing French honey production, imports, exports, and consumption trends, providing sector data for beekeepers, organizations, and public authorities.

Quantifiable outcome

• French honey harvest 2023: 29,857 tonnes, demonstrating sector resilience despite climate change, Varroa, and Asian hornet pressure
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• ADA (Associations de Développement de l'Apiculture) / ADA FrancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe ADA network (ADA France) operates in each French region to support the development of the beekeeping profession by building technical references. ADA structures are members of ITSAP's governance. The ADA-ITSAP network coordinates national surveys on production, techno-economic data, health, and environment.
• UMT PRADE (Unité Mixte Technologique Protection des Abeilles dans l'Environnement)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUMT PRADE is a Mixed Technological Unit bringing together the main applied research units in France focused on bee protection. It federates research and development stakeholders in apiculture and is a primary partnership vehicle for ITSAP.
• INRAe (Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement)coreTechnology or IntegrationITSAP's scientific, technical, and administrative headquarters is hosted at INRAe's site in Avignon (UR 406 A&E). INRAE research units (Abeilles et Environnement and BioSP) are partners in research projects such as Win'Var. The COST includes scientists from INRAE.
• ACTA (Institut technique agricole)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerACTA is the French agricultural technical institute network. ITSAP's interventions and training services are delivered in partnership with ACTA, which is QUALIOPI certified for training actions. Hélène Gross, ACTA's mission manager on biodiversity and agroecology, chairs the COST.
• CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerScientists from CNRS participate in the COST (Scientific and Technical Orientation Committee), contributing expertise in apidology, agronomy, forestry, pollination, ecology, veterinary medicine, economics, digital, and work organization.
• MNHN (Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerScientists from MNHN participate in the COST, contributing expertise across disciplines including apidology, ecology, and environmental sciences.
• Agroscope (Swiss bee research institute)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational scientific partners from Agroscope participate in the COST, bringing international perspective to ITSAP's scientific strategy.
• CARI (Belgium apiculture research)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational scientific partners from CARI (Belgium) participate in the COST, contributing to the institute's scientific and technical orientation.
• ADA Nouvelle AquitainecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerADA Nouvelle Aquitaine leads the Win'Var project in partnership with ITSAP, ADAPI, ADA Occitanie, Chambre d'Agriculture d'Alsace, and INRAE Avignon. The project aims to develop a sanitary accompaniment model for beekeepers in Varroa management.
• ADAPIsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerADAPI is a partner in the Win'Var project alongside ITSAP, ADA Nouvelle Aquitaine, ADA Occitanie, and Chambre d'Agriculture d'Alsace.
• Chambre d'Agriculture d'AlsacesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerChambre d'Agriculture d'Alsace is a partner in the Win'Var project, contributing to the development of Varroa management accompaniment models for beekeepers.
• ADA OccitaniecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorADA Occitanie is a regional member and partner of ITSAP's governance and network. The COST includes an administrator from ADA Occitanie (Emmanuel Bonnet). ADA Occitanie is also a partner in the Win'Var project.
• ADA AURA (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorADA AURA is a regional member and partner of ITSAP. Marie Mior, professional beekeeper from Puy-de-Dôme and administrator of ADA AURA, serves as Vice-President of ITSAP. ADA AURA is active in technical publications on wax quality, Varroa, and queen breeding.
• ADAGEsupportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorJulien Nageleisen, professional beekeeper and administrator of ADAGE, serves as Treasurer of ITSAP. ADAGE is part of the ITSAP governance.
• Résapi / ADA FrancesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerRésapi organized the Web'élevage series of webinars on queen and drone breeding methods, in collaboration with the ADA-ITSAP network.
• FranceAgriMersupportingOthersITSAP conducts annual honey market studies in partnership with FranceAgriMer, utilizing data from the Observatoire de la production de miel et de gelée royale. The Win'Var project is funded by CASDAR through FranceAgriMer.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• FranceAgriMer: French national agricultural marketing agency that co-funds ITSAP's honey market observatory via CASDAR and co-publishes sector data; broader in scope (all French agricultural commodities) but a key funder and data partner.
• INRAE: France's national research institute for agriculture, food and environment; hosts ITSAP's scientific headquarters at its Avignon UR 406 A&E unit and is the institute's primary research collaborator. A larger, broader incumbent that overlaps on bee research.
• ACTA (Association de Coordination Technique Agricole): Head of the French technical agricultural institute network, including ITSAP. QUALIOPI-certified training partnership vehicle for ITSAP and the umbrella under which French applied agricultural institutes operate; broader in scope but closely linked to ITSAP's delivery model.

Direct peers

• Agroscope: Swiss federal research institute for agriculture including bee health research; participates in ITSAP's COST. Operates an analogous applied-research-for-beekeeping mission in Switzerland and is the most direct research counterpart in another country.
• CARI (Centre Apicole de Recherche et d'Information): Belgian apiculture research and information center serving the same function as ITSAP in Belgium: applied research, technical advice to beekeepers, and sector coordination. Closest international counterpart, and ITSAP COST member.
• ADA France: Federation of the regional beekeeping development associations and ITSAP's primary dissemination and membership network. Operates the Web'élevage webinar series jointly with ITSAP and serves the same French beekeeping professional base.

Emerging players

• Apinov: French private apiary R&D and laboratory services company offering queen selection, hive product analysis and technical services to beekeepers — a private-sector counterpart delivering some of the same paid services ITSAP offers.
• Vita (Europe) Ltd: European supplier of bee health products (Varroa treatments, feed) and producer of hive monitoring technology; overlaps with ITSAP's health-management mission but operates commercially rather than as a non-profit institute.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/itsap-institut-de-l'abeille

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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