![“It can sit dormant [on] equipment for years and years until hive stressors and hive conditions are right for it to infect the colony.” – Osee Podolsky, Canadian Honey Council.](https://static.manitobacooperator.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/26104651/grafvision_GettyImages-178850019_cmyk.jpg)
Canadian beekeepers are about to have the first vaccine for their stock.
“It’s very exciting,” said Canadian Honey Council hive health specialist Osee Podolsky.
The new vaccine targets American foulbrood, a spore-producing bacterial disease that gets its name from the unpleasant smell in infected hives. The disease is serious enough that standard industry practice for most symptomatic colonies is to destroy them.
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“Combs with visible symptoms must be destroyed,” a resource from the Government of Alberta reads.
“Combs from an infected colony that do not have visible symptoms can be reused only if irradiated. Other infected equipment can be reused only if sterilized by one or more of irradiation, bleach, torching, or paraffin wax dip.”
If sterilization isn’t an option, that equipment should be burned.
Why it matters: ‘Kill it with fire’ is not hyperbole when it comes to American foulbrood.
“Currently, for prevention of American foulbrood, we use antibiotics prophylactically, which means even if the hive is not sick, we’ll use them, which is not a great practice and is a good way to build resistance if you’re not careful,” Podolsky said.
The vaccine, which is non-genetically modified and suitable for use in organic farming, was developed by Dalan Animal Health, based in Athens, Georgia. It uses inactivated complete Paenibacillus larvae (P. larvae) bacteria, the pathogen responsible for AFB.
It is blended into the worker bees’ diet and they infuse it into the royal jelly consumed by the queen. Vaccine fragments are deposited in her ovaries, granting immunity to subsequent larvae.
The vaccine was previously released in the U.S.
Industry impact
“The Alberta Beekeepers Commission is excited to learn about the vaccine developed by Dalan Animal Health,” executive director Connie Phillips said in an emailed statement. “AFB is a serious disease. The bacteria … in some instances, has developed resistance to antibiotics. Having options to treat brood diseases like AFB is important.”
Dalan Animal Health is expected to make a presentation at the commission’s conference and trade show in November.
“This will present a good opportunity for the company to learn more about beekeeping in Alberta and the needs of its producers, as well as for producers to learn about the new vaccine,” said Phillips.
Vaccine development is an encouraging shift for the beekeeping sector, said Manitoba Beekeepers’ Association chair Ian Steppler.
“It’s a sign of investment in new technology in the beekeeping industry, which we’re desperate for.”
He said the honey industry is often overlooked when investment dollars are handed out because the market is so small.
“This is showing that there is some attention towards our issues and there is the initiative and effort being put towards our industry to help us manage some of these issues.”
Beyond foulbrood
Steppler was particularly optimistic about inoculating an entire hive by inoculating the queen, which could be a game-changer for other diseases.
“That’s not to say that, for beekeepers having trouble with American foulbrood, it couldn’t be very useful to help them climb out of that rut, but that same technology and the medium could be used to apply to problems like European foulbrood, for instance, which is a different bacteria than American foulbrood,” he said.
Podolsky says the concept could go even further.
“There are other viruses, like black queen cell virus, acute deep paralysis virus, and deformed wing virus, that we can look at down the road,” he said.
That last may be of particular note because it is linked to varroa mite infestation, a persistent and growing issue in Canada’s honey sector.
Samantha Muirhead, Alberta’s provincial apiculturist, was more circumspect in her reaction to the new vaccine.
“My initial reaction is always, ‘OK, let’s step back and take a look,’” she said. “I don’t necessarily think it’s a silver bullet, but I do think more tools in the toolbox are great.”
Muirhead raised concern over whether bacteria would remain in a colony with a vaccinated queen.
“If there are still the bacteria present in the hive, other bees can come and rob that colony and potentially bring that bacteria back to their hive.”
Steppler said that’s a valid concern.
“Beekeepers will still need to employ best management practices,” he said, but added that lingering bacteria concern exists even if hives are treated conventionally with antibiotics.
Alberta doesn’t currently have a big problem with American foulbrood, said Muirhead.
“We’re pretty good at monitoring and keeping on top of it. And the beekeepers are really good. If they see a hive pop up with it, they will remove it from their operation right away,” she said.
Foulbrood numbers
American foulbrood has caused issues in the past for honey producers.
“Going back 20 years, there were a lot of hives that were burned in Canada to try to eradicate it…It can sit dormant [on] equipment for years and years until hive stressors and hive conditions are right for it to infect the colony,” Podolsky said.
Strict management practices appear to be keeping things in check, but a study on AFB in Saskatchewan, released last year, found that over half of the colonies tested had some level of P. larvae infection.
The situation is also more severe in the U.S., where beekeeping operations tend to be larger and hives are often moved, Steppler noted.
“They winter in Texas, then are moved to California to pollinate almonds and then moved up to the Dakotas and Minnesota to collect a honey crop and then back down to winter in Texas,” he said. “So you have two million hives churning within the country all year round.”
That movement and meeting of different hives are prime conditions for disease spread, he noted.
“In Canada, we like to keep our operations over two miles away from each other because then the colonies have a harder time robbing from weak ones.”
But the question of uptake remains. Why would Canadian producers invest in an inoculated queen when the disease is already well managed?
The industry has also noted issues with queen longevity. With the vaccine, replacing a queen will mean a newly vulnerable hive.
Steppler said those economic questions will weigh on whether beekeepers opt for the new technology. The initial enrolment cost for an inoculated queen adds about $10 per colony.
“That’s pretty expensive,” he said. “For my operation, [it’s] going to be $15,000 to inoculate for a disease I kind of have under control now.”
But Steppler says the Dalan Animal Health representative he spoke with expects those prices will come down as the technology is widely adopted.
The vaccine will be available for Canadian producers in the spring of 2024.
