The Washington State Beekeepers Association (WASBA) is looking for veterinarians who are interested in working with beekeepers
By CS McConnel, Veterinary Medicine Extension
In January 2017 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the implementation of Guidance for Industry #213, a process that began in 2013 to transition antimicrobial drugs with importance in human medicine (medically important antimicrobials) that are used in the feed or drinking water of food-producing animals to veterinary oversight. This rule change impacted all food-producing animals including honeybees. You read that correctly, honey bees are classified as livestock/food-producing animals by the federal government because products from apiculture enter the human food chain. These include honey, propolis, pollen, and royal jelly. As such, beekeepers must obtain a veterinary feed directive or prescription from their veterinarian to treat their colonies with antibiotics. The veterinarian must establish a veterinarian-client-patient relationship (VCPR) just as they do for any other animal needing antibiotics.
Since this requirement went into effect in Washington state, beekeepers have had difficulty identifying local veterinarians who are knowledgeable about honey bee health and willing to establish the necessary VCPR to help guide and authorize antibiotic treatments for diseases such as European Foulbrood. If you are interested in learning more about honey bee medicine, the AVMA developed “Honeybees 101 for veterinarians”, and the USDA offers an accreditation module on honey bee medicine for USDA-accredited veterinarians (NVAP, Module 30: The Role of Veterinarians in Honey Bee Health).
WASBA is planning to create a directory of veterinarians who are willing to work with beekeepers so that when they receive inquiries regarding veterinarians to contact in a particular area, they can refer the beekeeper to a veterinarian who is willing and able to assist them.
If you are a veterinarian interested in working with beekeepers to assist in treating their “livestock” please contact Ellen Miller, vpresident@wasba.org who is gathering the data for the directory. And if you are a veterinarian who would like more information regarding beekeeping and health management from a veterinarian beekeeper, please try and attend the upcoming WSU Spring Conference where Dr. Melissa Holahan will cover these topics and more!