Honey Bee Medicine for the Veterinary Practitioner

An essential guide to the health care of honey bees

Honey Bee Medicine for the Veterinary Practitioner offers an authoritative guide to honey bee health and hive management.  Designed for veterinarians and other professionals, the book presents information useful for answering commonly asked questions and for facilitating hive examinations.

The book covers a wide range of topics including basic husbandry, equipment and safety, anatomy, genetics, the diagnosis and management of disease. It also includes up to date information on Varroa and other bee pests, introduces honey bee pharmacology and toxicology, and addresses native bee ecology. This new resource:

    Offers a guide to veterinary care of honey bees
    Provides information on basic husbandry, examination techniques, nutrition, and more
    Discusses how to successfully handle questions and 'hive calls'
    Includes helpful photographs, line drawings, tables, and graphs

Written for veterinary practitioners, veterinary students, veterinary technicians, scientists, and apiarists, Honey Bee Medicine for the Veterinary Practitioner is a comprehensive and practical book on honey bee health.

Table of contents

List of Contributors ix

Acknowledgments xi

Honey Bee Medicine: A One Health Challenge xii
Terry Ryan Kane

Section I Biology and Medical Foundations 1

1 Looking to Nature to Solve the Health Crisis of Honey Bees 3
Robin W. Radcliffe and Thomas D. Seeley

2 The Superorganism and Herd Health for the Honey Bee 21
Robin W. Radcliffe

3 Honey Bee Anatomy 33
Cynthia M. Faux

4 Physiology of the Honey Bee -- Principles for the Beekeeper and Veterinarian 41
Rolfe M. Radcliffe

5 The Honey Bee Queen 55
Randy Oliver

6 Honey Bee Strains 73
Dewey M. Caron

7 Wild Bees: Diversity, Ecology, and Stresors of Non-Apis Bees 81
Margarita M. López-Uribe

8 Honey Bee Nutrition 93
Randy Oliver

9 Honey Bee Microbiota and the Physiology of Antimicrobial Resistance 125
Kasie Raymann

10 Honey Bee Pharmacology 135
Gigi Davidson

Section II Beekeeping Principles for Veterinarians 149

11 Equipment and Safety 151
Adam J. Ingrao

12 The Apiarist 167
Katie Lee and Gary S. Reuter

13 Basics of Apiary Design 179
Brandon K. Hopkins

14 Clinical Examination of a Honey Bee Hive 183
Jerry Hayes

15 Veterinary Regulations 191
Christopher J. Cripps

16 Medical Records 201
Marcie Logsdon and Terry Ryan Kane

Appendix 16.1A Veterinary -- Client Management Agreement 205

Appendix 16.1B Sample Hive Record 207

17 Epidemiology and Biosecurity 209
Kristen K. Obbink and James A. Roth

Appendix 17.A Beekeeping Biosecurity and Best Practices Checklist 217

Section III Honey Bee Diseases, Disorders, and Special Topics 219

18 Parasite Transmission Between Hives and Spillover to Non-Apis Pollinators 221
Scott McArt

19 Colony Collapse Disorder and Honey Bee Health 229
Jay D. Evans and Yanping (Judy) Chen

20 The Parasitic Mite Varroa destructor: History, Biology, Monitoring, and Management 235
David T. Peck

21 Honey Bee Viral Diseases 253
Esmaeil Amiri, Olav Rueppell, and David R. Tarpy

22 Honey Bee Bacterial Diseases 277
Meghan Milbrath

23 Honey Bee Fungal Diseases 295
Yanping (Judy) Chen and Jay D. Evans

24 Honey Bee Parasites and Pests 307
Britteny Kyle

25 Pesticides 321
Reed M. Johnson

26 Diagnostic Sampling 329
Dan Wyns

27 Necropsy of a Hive 339
Dewey M. Caron

28 Common Husbandry Issues 351
Charlotte Hubbard

29 Queen Rearing and Bee Breeding 363
Krispn Given

30 The Future Direction of Honey Bee Veterinary Medicine 367
Jeffrey R. Applegate, Jr.

Resources 369

Notes on Editors and Contributors 373

Index 379

Terry Ryan Kane, DVM, MS, is a veterinarian, a beekeeper, and owner of A2 Bee Vet, a practice devoted to honey bee medicine in Ann Arbor, MI, USA.

Cynthia M. Faux, DVM, PhD, DACVIM-LA, is a Professor of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Arizona, College of Veterinary Medicine in Oro Valley, AZ, USA.