US approves the first honey bee vaccination in history

• Bees are important pollinators and are involved in many environmental processes.
• Since 2006, honey bee colonies have been declining annually in the US.
• US Department of Agriculture authorised a provisional license for the vaccine this week.

The first ever honey bee vaccination has been given the green light for usage in the US.

It was developed to stop American foulbrood disease, a bacterial infection that is known to impair colonies by damaging bee larvae, from killing people.

According to the biotech company responsible for its creation, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) authorised a provisional licence for the vaccine this week.

Bees are important pollinators and are involved in many environmental processes.

The vaccination may represent a “breakthrough in preserving honey bees,” according to Dalan Animal Health CEO Annette Kleiser.

It functions by putting an inactive form of the bacteria into the royal jelly the queen eats, giving her larvae immunity.

Since 2006, honey bee colonies have been declining annually in the US, according to the USDA.

According to the USDA, a variety of, occasionally converging, variables, including as parasites, pests, and disease, as well as a condition known as Colony Collapse Disorder, which happens when worker bees quit a hive and leave the queen behind, pose a threat to honey bee health.

Approximately one-third of the world’s food production is caused by pollinators like bees, birds, and bats, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.

Since American foulbrood disease is incurable and highly contagious, it presents a problem for beekeepers. The only therapy is burning the infected bee colony along with the hives and equipment and administering antibiotics to other colonies of bees.

According to Dalan Animal Health, the new vaccine contains a dormant form of the bacteria Paenibacillus larvae that causes American foulbrood disease.

According to the biotech company, which specialises in insect health and immunology, the bacteria are mixed into the royal jelly feed provided by worker bees to the queen bee, who subsequently ingests the feed and retains some of the vaccination in her ovaries.

This, it is said, provides bee larvae with immunity to the sickness as they hatch and lowers disease-related fatalities.

According to board member of the California State Beekeepers Association Trevor Tauzer, the new vaccination may represent “an encouraging step forward for beekeepers.”

He explained, “If we can stop an infection in our hives, we may avoid expensive treatments and concentrate our work on other crucial components of keeping our bees healthy.

Dalan said the vaccine would probably be sold in the US this year and that he planned to give it out “on a limited basis” to commercial beekeepers.

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