Honeybee Veterinary Medicine

Honeybees are an essential part of farming, as well as the wider ecosystem. Since the middle of the 1990s, bee populations around the world have suffered dramatic decline through diseases, intoxication, and unknown causes. Veterinarians have had little training in bee health, but, as the situation continues, qualified animal health professionals and, in particular, veterinarians are being required to become involved as new dangers threaten honeybee health everywhere: because of global apiculture, trade and exchanges of honeybees, Aethinatumida (the small hive beetle, which is a beekeeping pest), or the parasitic mite Tropilaelapsspp. This book provides an overview of bee biology, the bee in the wider environment, intoxication, bee diseases, bee parasites (with a large part dedicated to the mite Varroadestructor), pest enemies, and veterinary treatment and actions relating to honeybee health. The book also covers current topics, such as climate change, crop pollination, use of phyto sanitary products, antibiotic resistance, and colony collapse disorder.