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The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday finalized updates to its framework for evaluating potential risks antimicrobial resistance could pose to humans when considering whether to approve livestock antibiotics.

HBVC was buzzing at the AVMA Convention! Dr. Elizabeth Mackey, Dr. Terry Ryan Kane, Dr. Amy Franklin, and AVMA President Dr. Michael Bailey spent time at the booth discussing the growing role of veterinary medicine in honey bee health.

A six-legged invader slipped through the Port of Vancouver recently, and Washington state officials want you to keep an eye out for it. The good news: It’s not that terrifying 2-inch-long murder hornet we’ve been warned about. The bad news: It’s still a hornet -- the smaller yellow-legged hornet -- that’s highly invasive and has a taste for honeybees.

The pesticide products listed on this page are registered by EPA at the federal level for use against Varroa mites. Rotating products to combat Varroa mites is an important tactic to prevent resistance development and to maintain the usefulness of individual pesticides. Beekeepers are encouraged to check with their state pesticide regulatory agencies to determine the regulatory status of the products in the individual states.

A new mutation (F290L) in the Octβ2R of V. destructor has been found in mites from Spanish apiaries. The frequency of L290 mutated alleles in colonies increased after consecutive treatments with amitraz. In a field trial, mites from colonies with higher frequency of L290 mutated allele took longer to die compared with those carrying a higher proportion of the wild-type allele. Lower susceptibility to amitraz was found in apiaries with a high frequency of homozygous mutants.

Former HBVC President, Samantha Alger's team recently studied a screening tool developed by scientists at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro that tests colonies for hygienic behavior by mimicking the pheromones emitted by sick or dying bees. The researchers found the UBeeO test can identify colonies resistant to several pests and pathogens that can decimate bee populations, such as Vairimorpha (known to many beekeepers as Nosema) and fungal infections including chalkbrood.

Survey Reveals Over 1.1 Million Honey Bee Colonies Lost, Raising Alarm for Pollination and Agriculture

How veterinarians can extend their expertise to help heal the environment