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October 10, 2016
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Federal directive brings veterinarians and beekeepers together
*Drugs for honeybee disease will require veterinary prescription in 2017
Story and photos by R. Scott Nolen
Posted Sept. 28, 2016
Come Jan. 1, 2017, hobbyist and commercial beekeepers alike will no longer be able to purchase antimicrobials over the counter, but instead, will need a veterinary feed directive or prescription for the drugs they administer to their honeybees.
The federal mandate requiring veterinary oversight of medically important antimicrobials in food-producing animals, including honeybees, is part of a Food and Drug Administration strategy to reform the way these drugs are legally used in food animals.
For millennia, humans have relied on Apis mellifera for food, to create candles and cosmetics, and, most importantly, to pollinate crops, earning them the name “the angels of agriculture.” Veterinary medicine in the United States has, however, traditionally paid little attention to honeybees, the only insect listed as a food-producing animal.
Dr. Christopher Cripps is a rarity as one of a handful of U.S. veterinarians knowledgeable about honeybee health and apiculture. Co-owner of honeybee supply business in Greenwich, New York, Dr. Cripps considers the FDA action an opportunity for veterinarians to access a relatively untouched animal industry valued by the Department of Agriculture at just over $327 million in 2015.
“The FDA has said veterinarians and beekeepers have to get together,” he said. “It’s new to us, and it’s new to beekeepers, who are used to having no one looking over their shoulder.”
This past August, Dr. Cripps spoke at AVMA Convention 2016 about honeybee diseases, approved medications in apiculture, and what the new Veterinary Feed Directive means for veterinarians. Additionally, Dr. Cripps is part of a working group formed by the AVMA Food Safety Advisory Committee to help veterinarians understand the legal requirements of writing a VFD or prescription for honeybees.
“As a strong proponent of responsible antibiotic use, the AVMA has been involved in the changing regulations from the very start,” said Dr. Christine Hoang, an assistant director of the AVMA Animal and Public Health Division and staff adviser for the food safety committee.
“We’ve also recognized that minor species, including honeybees, have unique circumstances and needs that must be addressed. It will be a steep learning curve, but we are currently developing educational materials for our member veterinarians and are dedicated to collaborative solutions for the beekeeping industry,” Dr. Hoang said.
The National Honey Board puts the number of U.S. beekeepers at around 125,000, most of them hobbyists with fewer than 25 hives. Last year, domestic honey production totaled 157 million pounds, according to the USDA, which says managed honeybee colonies contribute roughly $15 billion to the value of U.S. agriculture each year through increased yields and superior harvests.
Some 18 diseases attributable to bacteria, viruses, and parasites have been identified in honeybees. Arguably the greatest disease threat is the Varroa destructor mite, which drains the blood of adult bees and is a vector for various viruses that easily kill off weakened insects. Varroa mites are suspected to play an important role in colony collapse disorder, a mysterious occurrence in which most of the worker bees abandon a colony, leaving few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees and queen.
American foulbrood disease is the most serious of the honeybee bacterial pathologies. The disease is caused by the spore-forming Paenibacillus larvae, which infects one- to two-day-old bee larvae and kills them during the pupal stage. Beekeepers have three FDA-approved antimicrobials to control foulbrood outbreaks—oxytetracycline, tylosin, and lincomycin—which are typically mixed with sugar and dusted over the frames inside a bee hive.
In his presentation at the AVMA convention, Dr. Cripps cited a 2015 survey by the Bee Informed Partnership in which 357 of approximately 5,000 beekeepers admitted using antimicrobials in their bee colonies. Commercial beekeepers, who, on average, own approximately 900 hives, are the primary users of antimicrobials, he added.
Within the beekeeping community, there is little understanding of bacteriology or how antimicrobial resistance is spread, Dr. Cripps observed. “Basically, the beekeepers know that if oxytetracycline doesn’t work, I should use tylosin,” he explained.
Dr. Cripps described beekeepers as a lot like food animal producers, saying they are frugal yet willing to pay for services that promote the health of their colonies and result in increased honey production. “They’re OK with spending money so long as they’re getting something for the money they spend,” he explained.
Veterinarians can demonstrate their value to beekeepers, Dr. Cripps said, by delivering the same services they provide to owners of avian and mammalian livestock, such as preventive care, disease diagnosis and treatment, parasite control, and education in good husbandry practices. “I think the FDA is not looking for us to exchange our signature for money, which is basically how the beekeepers feel the veterinarians are going to be,” he said. “The FDA wants us to know what’s going on. We have a great education that puts us in a great position to help beekeepers understand the diseases their bees get and how to control and prevent them.”
Dr. Nicolas Vidal-Naquet, a lecturer of honeybee biology and diseases at the Veterinary School of Alfort in France, views the new federal Veterinary Feed Directive as “a very positive decision.” In an email to JAVMA News, Dr. Vidal-Naquet wrote, “This will lead veterinarians to get involved in apiculture, and this will lead beekeepers and other apiculture professionals to apply good practices in using veterinary medicines.”
Treating honeybees with antimicrobials is illegal in Europe, where miticides to control the Varroa mite are the only approved medications, according to Dr. Vidal-Naquet, author of “Honeybee Veterinary Medicine: Apis mellifera L.,” published in 2015.
“I think that antibiotic resistance is a real problem in the U.S. because of a misuse and overuse of antibiotics,” he said, adding he advocates for good husbandry practices as the ideal way of preventing and controlling honeybee diseases.
Dr. Vidal-Naquet explained how European veterinarians, like their American counterparts, overlooked honeybees as a sector of animal agriculture until 2005, when the Nantes Atlantic College of Veterinary Medicine, Food Science, and Engineering in France established the first veterinary postgraduate degree in apiculture and honeybee diseases. At least 200 veterinarians have graduated from the Nantes program so far, Dr. Vidal-Naquet said, while veterinary schools in Germany, Spain, Italy, and Austria now devote some courses to honeybee health and husbandry.
The catalyst for the novel veterinary degree was the desire of a small number of veterinarians who, Dr. Vidal-Naquet said, wanted their profession to do more to safeguard an increasingly threatened animal species whose importance to humans and the environment cannot be overstated.
Within a decade, that message had caught on, with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) devoting an entire issue of its 2014 “bulletin” to honeybees. Dr. Bernard Vallat, OIE director general at the time, called the potential loss of honeybees a “biological, agricultural, environmental, and economic disaster. Maintaining healthy populations of these key pollinating insects … is a critical health challenge deserving the full attention of the global community.”
Bees Added To U.S. Endangered Species List For 1st Time
October 3, 20161:58 PM ET
Finally — some good news for the bees of Hawaii.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has given endangered status to seven species of yellow-faced bees native to the islands. These are "the first bees in the country to be protected under the Endangered Species Act," according to the Xerces Society, which advocated for the new designation.
he new rule designating protections for the bees, published Friday in the Federal Register, states that yellow-faced bees are known "for their yellow-to-white facial markings." They look like small wasps, according to the rule, except for their "plumose [branched] hairs on the body that are longest on the sides of the thorax, which readily distinguish them from wasps."
The yellow-faced bee is the only bee native to Hawaii, meaning that it was able to reach the Hawaiian Islands on its own, according to a fact sheet provided by the University of Hawaii's 
Master Gardner Program. "From that one original colonist they evolved into 63 known endemic species, about 10% of the world's yellow-faced bees and more than are found in this genus in all of North America."
But the populations of these seven species are getting smaller and smaller, according to Fish and Wildlife. For example, the Hylaeus anthracinus was once found in dozens of locations around Hawaii but is now in only 15 — while Hylaeus hilaris and Hylaeus kuakea are each found only in one location.
The seven endangered species are impacted by a wide variety of threats, including habitat destruction because of urbanization or nonnative animals, the introduction of nonnative plant species, wildfires, nonnative predators and natural events such as hurricanes, tsunamis and drought.
The protected status "will allow authorities to implement recovery programs, access funding and limit their harm from outside sources," as Gregory Koob of the Fish and Wildlife Service told The Associated Press. He added that "all federal agencies must consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service when interacting with endangered species."
The Xerces Society called the new rule "excellent news" but added that "there is much work that needs to be done to ensure that Hawaii's bees thrive."
"These bees are often found in small patches of habitat hemmed in by agricultural land or developments," the group said. "Unfortunately, the [Fish and Wildlife Service] has not designated any 'critical habitat' areas of land of particular importance for the endangered bees."
As we've reported, pollinators are under threat around the world. A U.N.-sponsored report released in February found that "about 40 percent of invertebrate pollinator species (such as bees and butterflies) are facing extinction." This could have major implications for world food supply, because "about 75 percent of the world's food crops ... depend at least partly on pollination."
Despite the threats, the University of Hawaii says these bees "have managed to persist with amazing tenacity." While this group of species is now endangered, new species of the genus are discovered regularly — "11 new native species have been found in the past 15 years."
The rule, which goes into effect at the end of the month, also gives the endangered designation to 39 plant species found on the islands and to three other creatures native to Hawaii — the band-rumped storm-petrel Oceanodroma castro, the orangeblack Hawaiian damselfly Megalagrion xanthomelas, and the anchialine pool shrimp Procaris hawaiana.
Queens, sex and colony collapse
Date: October 4, 2016
Source: Aarhus University
Summary: When a queen has sex with many different partners, it can increase her risk of infection with venereal disease. It can also lead to the collapse of her colony. This might read like ingredients for a juicy novel, but for bees it is reality.
FULL STORY
When a queen has sex with many different partners, it can increase her risk of infection with venereal disease. It can also lead to the collapse of her colony. This might read like ingredients for a juicy novel, but for bees it is reality.
Scientists from Aarhus University have teamed up with American and German colleagues and found that the mating behaviour of queen bees increases the risk of the whole colony succumbing to the syndrome Colony Collapse Disorder because of a venereal disease.
In order to understand how this works you need to know a few things about the mating behaviour of bees.
When the bee colony's queen decides to mate, she flies a certain distance away from the beehive. She is drawn towards a particular goal: a concentrated swarm of randy drones that are gathered in the air in a so-called congregation area. In this buzzing confusion of drones the queen bee mates with several different males.
The drone, on the other hand, has only one shot. This is, however, quite dramatic, in that he blasts his semen into the queen. This explosive ejaculation leads to separation of the drone's penis from his body, his falling over backwards and dying shortly afterwards. The drone leaves part of his penis behind in the queen's body.
Mating with built-in risk
The scientists have now shown that the drone leaves behind not only his semen and part of his penis in the queen. His calling card can also include a virus that may infect the queen with the disease deformed wing virus. Since the queen mates with multiple partners in the course of a mating event, there are multiple risks of small Trojan horses being left behind in her.
All the queens in the study came from bee colonies that were free of infection with deformed wing virus. The drones in the control group also came from colonies without deformed wing virus while several of the drones in the experimental group were infected with the disease.
The research team, which consisted of scientists from the German bee research institute LLH Bieneninstitut, University of North Carolina, and Aarhus University, caught the queen bees on the queens' way home from mating. If the queen contained a piece of the drone penis (endophallus), this endophallus was removed and examined for deformed wing virus.
The scientists remove the endophallus from the mated queen. Photo: Roy Mathew Francis
Virus throughout the body
The results showed that queens that had mated with drones infected with deformed wing virus also often became infected with the disease. Virus was found in both the sexual organs and other body parts of the queens.
- We found answers to three essential questions: that drones infected with deformed wing virus are capable of mating naturally with queens, that deformed wing virus can be transmitted by natural mating, and that virus particles can be found throughout the body in mated queens shortly after mating, says senior scientists Per Kryger from the Department of Agroecology and continues:
- A significant portion of failed bee colonies is due to failure of the queen. This could explain the frequent loss of queens, since deformed wing virus can shorten the bees' life span. It is a serious problem when the queen dies and often means that the whole colony collapses.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161004104622.htm
MSU researchers spread the buzz about bee viruses
August 24, 2016 -- By Marshall Swearingen for the MSU News Service
BOZEMAN -- Researchers at Montana State University have published an informational paper in a scholarly journal summarizing what's known about the role that viruses play in honey bee health.
Co-authored by Michelle Flenniken, assistant professor in the Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology in MSU’s College of Agriculture, and two MSU graduate students, the article, "The buzz about honey bee viruses," was published Aug. 18 in the journal PLoS Pathogens, which publishes “outstanding original research and commentary that significantly advances the understanding of pathogens and how they interact with their host organisms,” according to the journal website.
The article's release came two days ahead of National Honey Bee Day, which was declared in 2010 by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to further awareness of the important role that honey bees play in the food system and the threats the pollinators face, including from pathogens such as the viruses studied by the Flenniken lab.
"This is an exciting time in honey bee virology," the authors write in the paper, adding that the study of bee viruses is "a rapidly growing field currently in its infancy."
More than a dozen viruses circulate within and between honey bee colonies. Several viruses can be transmitted among multiple bee species, including bumble bees, and some viruses are carried by parasitic mites, for example, Varroa destructor.
Honey bee colony losses have averaged 33 percent annually since 2006, increased from a historic average of approximately 12 percent. There are multiple factors, including chemical exposure, lack of quality forage and pathogen prevalence and abundance that impact bee honey bee colony losses. Flenniken said colonies afflicted with Colony Collapse Disorder, which accounts for approximately five percent of annual losses but is poorly understood, have a higher prevalence of certain viruses.
"We know that certain viruses correlate with poor colony health and colony losses, but the specific viruses differ depending on location and other variables," said Flenniken. "There's not one virus that's always the culprit."
According to co-author Alex McMenamin, a doctoral student in MSU's Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the College of Agriculture and College of Letters and Science and a member of the Flenniken lab, new technologies are opening frontiers for bee pathogen research.
Until very recently, researchers have only been able to study the impact of viruses on bees at the macroscopic level, McMenamin said.
"Now, we can study individual viruses and their interactions with individual honey bee cells,” he said.
"We can look at all the genes that are expressed or 'turned on' when a bee is infected with a virus," Flenniken added.
Eventually, pinpointing the molecular behavior of bee viruses and the bees' immune response could help researchers understand the specific role those pathogens play in the complex equation of colony deaths, as well as develop management strategies to boost colony health.
Flenniken and the other co-authors, which includes Department of Microbiology and Immunology doctoral student Laura Brutscher, were invited to write the review paper as part of a special series that the PLoS Pathogens website calls a "living collection of short, educational, and highly useful articles."
John Sherwood, head of MSU's Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, said Flenniken and her collaborators are at the forefront of research into honey bee viruses.
"There is a lot of concern about honey bee colony collapse, but it's been a very difficult puzzle to solve," Sherwood said. "What's unique about Michelle's work is that until recently there has been relatively little research on the viruses [that may be key pieces of the puzzle].”
Publishing an article about bees in a journal that covers immunology, virology and microbiology is another illustration of how the study of pollinators is branching out beyond the fields of entomology and ecology, Flenniken said.
"Researchers from multiple disciplines are talking to each other about pollinator health," she said, "and are pressing forward to address some of the important questions in bee biology."
Michelle Flenniken, michelle....@montana.edu or (406) 994-7229
Can CRISPR Carry Agriculture Innovation To The Next Level?
By: Frank Giles September 13, 2016
For years, the discussion surrounding genetics in agriculture focused on the use of GMOs and transgenics. With it came controversy about the safety and processes used to genetically modify crops. Despite scientific consensus that GMOs are safe, the debate continues.
But, as is often the case, science marches forward and a new genetics breakthrough called CRISPR/Cas9 promises to supersede GMOs. The technology is making headlines already and will surely make more in the future.
The technique, which was discovered in 2012 by Jennifer Doudna, a Biochemist with UC Berkeley, and Emmanuelle Charpentier, a Microbiologist now at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, is highly technical to describe. In layman’s terms, it allows DNA to be edited, turning off undesirable outcomes at the gene level. Desirable traits also can be added at the cellular level.
CRISPR is short for “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats.” The technology is derived from the age-old battle between viruses and bacteria. Viruses attack bacteria and take them over. Sometimes bacteria survive an attack, and when they do, they save a copy of the DNA from the virus. The viral DNA is saved in the part of the bacteria called CRISPR. When the virus attacks the bacteria again, the bacteria arms the Cas9 protein with the bit of viral DNA. The Cas9 protein then moves throughout the cell looking for the attacking viral DNA. When it finds the matching viral DNA, the Cas9 essentially cuts the virural DNA, rendering it ineffective.
“One of the major advantages of CRISPR/Cas9 technology is that a gene can be knocked out,” says Dr. Wayne Hunter, a Research Entomologist at USDA’s Horticultural Research Laboratory in Ft. Pierce. “So, if a gene would normally produce a toxin or allergic protein, the plant would no longer be able to produce that protein. Plus, since no additional genetic material would be added — the plant would not be transgenic.”
And the process can be implemented quickly. In a New York Times article, geneticist Bruce Conklin said of the technology: “In the past, it was a student’s entire PhD thesis to change one gene. CRISPR just knocked that out of the park.”
Not only is the technique much faster than conventional breeding, it also is very versatile. The approach has worked in just about every cell type tested thus far — plant and animal.
And to grasp the rate at which researchers are studying CRISPR/Cas9, there were hardly any scientific publications on the technology in 2012. In 2014, there were more than 225 published.
To say CRISPR/Cas9 is every bit as revolutionary as the Internet or the smartphone is an understatement. Scientists are studying applications to fight cancers and it already has been demonstrated the technology can remove HIV from infected human cells. It comes with ethical questions as well for how this technology may benefit humans in the future. The idea of designer babies with reduced diseases linked to faulty genes, or the potential to slow or reverse the aging process may one day be possible using CRISPR/Cas9. Many more human health, animal, and plant applications are being investigated.
READ FULL ARTICLE: http://www.growingproduce.com/vegetables/can-crispr-carry-agriculture-innovation-to-the-next-level/?omhide=true&eid=282158365&bid=1551145
Request for Technical Assistance - USAID Farmer-to-Farmer Program
Winrock International is seeking a skilled volunteer with business experience in the apiary industry to travel to Bangladesh on an assignment for the USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program. Winrock sends U.S. volunteer experts on short-term assignments overseas to help improve agricultural businesses, small organizations, academic/training institutions, and the lives of local farmers. While experts serve on a volunteer basis and no salary or consultant fee is paid – Winrock does cover all costs associated with the assignments, such as travel, meals, transportation and lodging.
In Bangladesh, the volunteer will meet the host (The Bangladesh Association for Social Advancement (BASA)) and its potential partners to assess the overall status of beekeeping in the country and explore opportunities to produce bee products (mainly pollen and royal jelly). The volunteer will also help develop marketing systems through a partnership approach for increased income opportunity (especially for youth) and the sustainability of the apiary industry. Based on the meetings, field visits and training experience, the volunteer will prepare and present guidelines in a workshop for the host and partners to collaborate on the production and marketing of bee products and improvement of beekeeping focused on youth capacity building and youth entrepreneurship development in the apiary industry.
Volunteer Requirements:
- Bachelor degree or higher in relevant field
- Sound knowledge and good communication and presentation skills to conduct trainings and workshops/seminars
- Strong business and partnership development experience in beekeeping and bee products
- Can ideally travel December 1-21, 2016 (there may be some flexibility on dates so please contact Samantha for more information)
- Must be a U.S. citizen
For more information about this opportunity, please contact Samantha Williams at sam.wi...@winrock.org. To learn more about volunteering with Winrock, visit https://www.winrock.org/join-us/volunteer/.
About Winrock International:
Winrock International is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of disadvantaged men, women, and youth around the world. By linking local individuals and communities with new ideas, methodologies, and technology, Winrock increases long-term productivity, equity, and responsible resource management, and strengthens civil society. Since 1991, Winrock has fielded over 5,400 skilled professionals as volunteers on development programs in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Eurasia, impacting approximately 8.2 million people worldwide. Experienced professionals donate their time and introduce new information and technology, share firsthand experiences, and exchange ideas. The local organizations, businesses, and individuals that benefit from volunteers incorporate new information into their operations, processes, and planning. This interchange results in increased productivity and sales and new jobs and businesses.
Save the Date for 2017
2017 North American Beekeeping Conference & Tradeshow
January 10-14, 2017
San Luis Resort & Galveston Island Convention Center
Galveston, TX
Save the date for the 2017 North American Beekeeping Conference & Tradeshow. That’s right, The American Beekeeping Federation (ABF), the American Honey Producers Association (AHPA) and the Canadian Honey Council (CHC) will come together for a combined conference & tradeshow in 2017. This is one conference you won’t want to miss so make your plans now.
The conference will be held at the Galveston Island Convention Center in Galveston, Texas. Guest rooms will be available at the following properties:
• San Luis Resort
• Hilton Galveston Island Resort
• The Holiday Inn Resort Galveston
With anticipated attendance of 1000+ so this is the perfect place to learn more about beekeeping, share best practices and visit with vendors who have lots of great information to share with you.
Features of the conference include:
- Participation of beekeepers from all over the world
- Updates from the USDA-ARS bee labs
- Presentations from industry leaders
- Interactive hands-on workshops
- Full-day of sessions for commercial beekeepers
- Tradeshow full of the latest products and services in beekeeping
- Lots of networking opportunities
- And much, much more . . .
And, while you’re in Galveston, mixing business with pleasure is easy as the island offers plenty of opportunities for exploring, from the adventure pyramids of Moody Gardens to the thrills of the Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier. Visitors can learn about Galveston’s unique history at a variety of museums, like the historic mansion Bishop’s Palace or the 1877 Tall Ship ELISSA. In Galveston, even shopping and dining are historic, cultural experiences. The Historic Downtown Strand Seaport District boasts of beautiful Victorian storefronts featuring unique shops, restaurants and art galleries just a short walk away from Galveston’s Pier 21 and glistening harbor. We look forward to seeing you in Galveston!
****ATTENTION****
2017 North American Beekeeping Conference & Tradeshow
We hope you are making plans to join us in Galveston for the 2017 North American Beekeeping Conference & Tradeshow, a joint conference of the American Beekeeping Federation, the American Honey Producers and the Canadian Honey Council. We look forward to seeing you all in January!
It has been brought to our attention that a Housing Company (which is not affiliated with the conference) is contacting potential conference attendees and advising that the conference hotel is almost sold out and that you need to make reservations with them immediately. This is not accurate and appears to be a SCAM! No one should or will be calling you to make your hotel reservation. All reservations must be made directly with the hotel via telephone or online link (please visit the conference website at www.nabeekeepingconference.com for reservation links). We are not sure how this organization obtained conference attendee contact information. It appears they may be phishing websites that attendees have visited (i.e. San Luis Resort, conference website, etc.). We are working with the San Luis Resort to see what can be done to protect conference attendees from this SCAM.
Should you be contacted by this organization, please try to get as much information as possible (name of caller, organization name, rate offered, etc.) and pass this information along to in...@nabeekeepingconference.com. Please do not give them any of your personal or credit card information.
Thank you!
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