Good day to All,
I am a veterinarian in Connecticut, USA. I am also a bee keeper. Recently, rules and regulations have changed. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) have declared honey bees to be considered Livestock as of 1 January 2017. As with all things, there are pros and cons to the actions of others. The good news is honey bees are finally accepted as a food producer. Yea! The more attention to our pollinators the better. The cons, at least in the beginning for bee keepers is that antibiotics which were easy to procure for the health of our bees now require a veterinarian to be involved. The bees will be considered, as any other creature a veterinarian sees and helps as a Patient. In order for sick bees to receive antibiotics to improve their health, a veterinarian must be involved in a valid client-patient-veterinarian relationship with that bee keeper. Once this relationship exists, the veterinarian can then write either a veterinary feed directive (VFD) or a veterinary prescription for that drug to be used on those sick bees.
While bee keepers may see this as an intrusion upon their previous freedom to procure and purchase these drugs; the truth of the story is well grounded in the bigger “human medicine” picture. This bigger picture is called “the judicious use of antibiotics”.
The reason I started this blog is to hold out my hand to other bee keepers and tell them “It is going to be OK, and that this is a good thing!”. I plan to use this blog as an educational opportunity. I will be here to listen, to write, and to learn with the other bee keepers as these new veterinary drug regulations take hold. I will also offer my insight on how this matter with the honey bees fits into the grand scheme of continuing to protect human health and life. I invite you along with me on this new adventure of mine…… Let Us Bee Proactive Together!!!!!!!.
Bee Proactive 