US Approves First Vaccination For Honeybees To Protect Them Against Disease

Honeybees are an essential part of our agricultural cycle; over 90 different species of crops in the US rely on insect pollination to survive. Unfortunately, an epidemic known as the American foulbrood has been sweeping the nation and killing off significant colonies.
 
A few years ago, a movement began to sweep through the internet. People were trying to #savethebees as conversationalists, and bee lovers spread the word on how the protect these insects.
 
American foulbrood originated in the US and has spread around the world. The illness is caused by the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae, which weakens a hive. As there is no cure for it currently, beekeepers are subjected to burning any infected colony before it can spread.
 
That being said, there could be a happy ending for the honeybees, after all.
 
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has just approved a conditional license for a vaccine created by Dalan Animal Health. The vaccine will be introduced into the royal jelly, fed by worker bees to the queen. After she ingests it, her ovaries will absorb some of the vaccines, allowing the next set of bees to be born to have immunity against foulbrood.
 
Dalan will distribute the vaccine commercially to beekeepers so that they can curb the disease before it even matures in the colony.
 
With this, hopefully, honeybees will begin to thrive again and pollinate our Earth and farms.
 
 
 
[via The Guardian and BBC, Photo 6950537 © Viktorfischer | Dreamstime.com]