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USDA approves first vaccine for honeybees

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The United States Department of Agriculture has approved a vaccine for honeybees to prevent American foulbrood disease, which is a bacterial disease that can destroy kill off entire honeybee colonies.

According to CNN, the USDA issued a conditional vaccine license to Diamond Animal Health on Dec. 29, 2022. The vaccine is said to be the “first licensure of a honeybee product.”

The USDA expressed hope that the vaccine will “aid in the prevention and/or treatment of the disease American Foulbrood in honeybees given their central role in American agriculture.”

Trevor Tauzer, owner of Tauzer Apiaries and a board member of the California State Beekeepers Association, said in a statement: “This is an exciting step forward for beekeepers, as we rely on antibiotic treatment that has limited effectiveness and requires lots of time and energy to apply to our hives.”

He added, “If we can prevent an infection in our hives, we can avoid costly treatments and focus our energy on other important elements of keeping our bees healthy.”

The vaccine will reportedly be mixed into bee’s “queen feed,” which the worker bees consume. The worker bees will then incorporate the vaccine into royal jelly, which is fed to the queen bee. When the queen bee consumes the vaccine, trace amounts of the vaccine will be deposited in her ovaries. When the queen’s larvae are born, they will immune to the American foulbrood disease.

ARTICLE: PAUL MURDOCH

MANAGING EDITOR: CARSON CHOATE

PHOTO CREDITS: SPOKESMAN.COM

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Paul Murdoch

Paul, 37, is from Scotland in the UK, but currently lives and works in Bangkok. Paul has worked in different industries such as telemarketing, retail, hospitality, farming, insurance, and teaching, where he works now. He teaches at an all-girls High School in Bangkok. “It’s a lot of work, but I love my job.” Paul has an active interest in politics. His reason for writing for FBA is to offer people the facts and allow them to make up their own minds. Whilst he believes opinion columns have their place, it is also important that people can have accurate news with no bias.

Paul, 37, is from Scotland in the UK, but currently lives and works in Bangkok. Paul has worked in different industries such as telemarketing, retail, hospitality, farming, insurance, and teaching, where he works now. He teaches at an all-girls High School in Bangkok. “It’s a lot of work, but I love my job.” Paul has an active interest in politics. His reason for writing for FBA is to offer people the facts and allow them to make up their own minds. Whilst he believes opinion columns have their place, it is also important that people can have accurate news with no bias.

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