Starting this month, U.S. beekeepers will need a veterinarian for certain bee medications. Under the FDA’s new Veterinary Feed Directive rules, which took effect Jan. 1, vets oversee the use of most antimicrobials in beehives — and both beekeepers and veterinarians are confused.
The rules, called Guidance for Industry #213, are part of a federal effort to restrict farm antibiotic use and address the problem of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. A specific goal of the rules is to curtail the practice of giving food animals drugs to help them gain weight. Honeybees are considered food animals, so they’re grouped with cows, pigs, chickens and other farm animals.
Under the new rules, antibiotics deemed “medically important” for curing human infections can no longer be purchased at feed stores or over the internet without authorization from a veterinarian. That includes three antibiotics currently used in bees: oxytetracycline, tylosin and lincomycin. It does not include miticides used to treat the varroa mite, which is among the leading suspects in declining bee populations.
The antibiotics restricted under the new rule are used to prevent and treat American and European foulbrood. These diseases are caused by bacteria that kill young bee larvae. While not common, foulbrood can be highly destructive and transmits easily among colonies or hives.
Chris Cripps, a veterinarian in upstate New York, says stemming the overuse of antibiotics in farm animals is a good thing, but he worries that the new regulations could create unintended problems for beekeepers. Cripps says, for instance, that veterinarians are not trained in U.S. schools to inspect hives for signs of disease or to prescribe medications to honeybees, and so beekeepers could have trouble finding a veterinarian to help.
Cripps, a rare vet with beekeeping experience, also wonders how many of his colleagues will be willing to seek additional training on honeybees. For most vets it would likely be a very small part of their business, so it’s not clear what the incentive would be. “Going out and inspecting hives takes time,” he says, noting that the vets will have to find some way to monetize the additional time. “But beekeepers aren’t looking to spend a lot of money since it’s something they’ve never had to spend money on before.”
Jay Miller, a commercial beekeeper from Williston, ND, is pretty sure the new layer of oversight will lead to higher costs for beekeepers. Miller runs 2J Honey Farms and manages about 6,000 hives. He typically treats his hives with tylosin once a year to prevent disease, though he’ll use the medication again if there’s an outbreak. Like many commercial beekeepers, Miller makes his living on pollination fees. Each spring, about 1.8 million hives — including Miller’s — are trucked from around the country to California to pollinate almonds. Prophylactic treatments are important, because they help ensure the bees arrive as healthy as possible, he says.
Miller, who calls the new regulations “aggravating … another hoop to jump through,” doesn’t think he will have a hard time getting the drugs, though. He raises cattle on the side, so he gets antimicrobials from his farm vet. But he agrees that beekeepers without farm animals may have a harder time finding a vet to visit their apiaries.
Not all beekeepers use antibiotics. Paul Javins , a beekeeper in Milwaukee, stopped several years ago. Menger, a hobbyist with 20-25 hives, says it wasn’t worth the expense since he’s never had problems with foulbrood. If he ever did find the disease in his hives, he says, he’d burn them. The bacteria that cause American foulbrood form spores that are hard to kill, and burning is the only way to make sure they don’t come back. Some states require the burning of hives that have been infected.
Beekeepers seeking a veterinary feed directive or prescription for antibiotics can look up veterinarians interested in treating bees in their state here. And for a broader look at the FDA’s new antibiotics rules, click here.
Lindsey Konkel is a New Jersey–based freelancer who reports on science, health, and the environment.