Now the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved a conditional license for a first ever honeybee vaccine.
The goal of the vaccine is to prevent bee fatalities from American “foulbrood disease,” a bacterial condition that weakens colonies by attacking bee larvae. The US has seen annual declines in honeybee colonies since 2006, according to the USDA.
The vaccine could serve as a “breakthrough in protecting honey bees,” said Dalan Animal Health CEO Annette Kleiser in a statement.
The vaccine is said to work by introducing an inactive version of the bacteria into the royal jelly fed to the queen, whose larvae then gain immunity.
It’s interesting to note that a BBC article about the new vaccine does not mention one of most well-known issues hurting honeybee colonies: the widespread use of pesticides, like glyphosate, that farmers use today and have the stamp of approval from the Environmental Protection Agency.
In August of 2021 the BBC published the article “Farm pesticides killing more bees – study,” based on an analysis of 90 studies. The analysis concluded that ready-mixed “cocktails” of agricultural pesticides sold to farmers can kill many bees.
“Exposure to multiple pesticides is the norm, not the exception,” study leader Dr. Harry Siviter, from the University of Texas at Austin, told the BBC.
“If you have a honeybee colony exposed to one pesticide that kills 10% of the bees and another pesticide that kills another 10%, you would expect, if those effects were additive, for 20% of the bees to be killed,” Dr. Siviter said. But he said a “synergistic effect” could actually produce a higher 30-40% mortality.
“And that’s exactly what we found when we looked at the interactions,” he said.
A healthy beekeeping industry is an invaluable industry to the US economy, as it adds $20 billion to the value of US crop production, according to the American Beekeeping Foundation.
A press release from the vaccine manufacturer does not reference any type of testing or efficacy results of the vaccine.
Dalan Animal Health says it plans to distribute the vaccine “on a limited basis” to commercial beekeepers, and says the product will probably be available for purchase by others in the US this year.
Read more about new vaccine here and more about pesticide use here.
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