In the past few years, there has been a lot of news and discussion about saving the bees. We know that honey bees are extremely important for food production around the world and without these pollinators, we would be in a grim situation. In 2022, it was estimated that there were about 2.7 million honey producing colonies in the United States. According to a study by Bee Informed, a nonprofit organization collecting census data on beekeeping across the US, beekeepers lost about 48.2 percent of colonies between April 2022 and April 2023. With continued losses, food production could be in jeopardy. This is where veterinarians step in.
As of 2017, honey bees were reclassified into a food-producing species, meaning beekeepers cannot obtain antibiotics without a prescription or feed directive from a veterinarian. While many think vets can just write a prescription, legally we must establish a Veterinary-Client-Patient-Relationship, or VCPR. This is true of any species, including honey bees. A VCPR means that we have examined the animal once yearly at minimum. We could never examine each individual bee but we examine the colony as a whole and treat the colony as if it were an individual animal.
The most common issue we are finding with honey bee colonies is Varroa mites. These mites are found across the US and in other parts of the world. Not only are the mites parasitic to the individual bees, but they also carry many viral diseases that can spread to the colony. There are bacterial, fungal and viral infections we can see with colonies as well as husbandry issues that can contribute to the large losses of colonies.
If you have honey bees, whether you are a commercial producer or a hobbyist, I strongly urge you to reach out to a veterinarian for regular hive exams. Veterinarians can be found on The Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium’s website.
I look forward to doing my part in saving the bees!