Introduction
Incorporating honeybees in veterinary education is a timely idea for several reasons. Most importantly, regulations regarding the use of vertebrate species to teach veterinary medicine are becoming stricter, and an increased awareness of animal welfare has created obstacles to performing procedures on vertebrate species when those procedures are solely for the purpose of teaching veterinary students. Using western honeybees (Apis mellifera) as models to teach veterinary medicine avoids some of these concerns.
Invertebrates have been involved in the history of medicine for about 4,000 years and have served as models for research and teaching since the late 1800s. Some of the first studies that used invertebrates as a research model were published in 1896.1 Also, since it was established in 1901, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded 18 times to individuals on the basis of their research involving invertebrate species.1
Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) are commonly used in the basic sciences1; however, there are limits to their usefulness in veterinary education, and in the author’s opinion, social insects like honeybees have distinct advantages over them. This is due in no small part to the fact that a honeybee colony acts in many ways like a single superorganism with many similarities to a mammal. Although not frequently used for veterinary education in the United States, honeybees have an active role in many veterinary college curricula in the European Union. This difference may be partially due to the long history and traditional role of honeybees in European culture. For example, honeybees feature in the German Civil Code, with laws relating to bee ownership and regulations covering ownership of bee swarms and the owner’s right of pursuit.2 Laws and regulations related to honeybees are not as extensive in the United States as in the European Union. However, after the US FDA implemented its Veterinary Feed Directive rule in 2017, which dictates how certain antimicrobials can legally be administered in the feed or water of food-producing animals, honeybees fell under the direct purview of veterinarians. At the same time, changes were made to the FDA policy on the use of medically necessary antimicrobials on bees,3 further directly involving veterinarians in honeybee health.
Honeybee populations worldwide are under severe threat as a result of various pathogens and environmental factors, and there has been a substantial decline in honeybee numbers.4 The loss of these important pollinators will have devastating effects on many aspects of human agriculture if no remedy for this decline is found. A recent review5 identified 21 articles published between 1993 and 2019 that examined how interactions between climate changes, pollution, and microbial factors influenced honeybee health, and another publication6 concluded that because of the increasing evidence of links between honeybee and human health, the veterinary profession will be increasingly required to engage with honeybee health.
The aim of the present article is to stimulate thought regarding the role honeybees could play in enhancing veterinary education and point out the benefits of increased literacy among veterinarians regarding honeybee health. It highlights a variety of reasons why and ways how honeybees can play a larger role in the education of veterinarians in the United States.
Honeybees and the Veterinary Curriculum
In accrediting colleges of veterinary medicine, the AVMA Council on Education seeks to ensure that minimum standards in veterinary medical education are met and that students receive an education that will prepare them for entry-level positions in the profession.7 To help veterinary colleges meet these educational standards, the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges has adopted 9 domains of competence, each with an associated list of subcompetencies and abilities, that together constitute the skills and knowledge expected of a “practice-ready” veterinarian.8 As indicated by this framework, veterinarians are expected to be able to, among other things, make an accurate diagnosis, apply appropriate treatments and interventions, and advise about disease control and prophylaxis.
Historically, veterinary curricula have focused heavily on using client-owned animals and domesticated livestock to teach many of these competencies in the final year of schooling. This focus requires the infrastructure and resources needed to maintain livestock barns and a sufficiently broad pool of clients that students can be exposed to a variety cases, which can place a substantial financial burden on the college. Additionally, maintaining a caseload capable of providing appropriate teaching experiences has become problematic because, in recent years, many veterinary teaching hospitals have shifted to become highly specialized tertiary-care referral facilities.9 As a result, they may be able to offer only a subset of teaching opportunities, and important topics like preventative health care could be marginalized.
To broaden educational opportunities for students, some veterinary colleges have established cooperative programs with local animal shelters that allow students to learn and practice important medical and surgical skills.9 Other colleges have established community practice programs or agreements with local veterinary practices to provide student training. Using honeybees as a teaching model could be yet another complementary method of exposing veterinary students to core competencies starting in the first year of their curriculum (Appendix 1). Just as livestock herd health has been seen as an appropriate way to teach critical subjects such as infectious diseases and epidemiology, using honeybee colonies could be a way to introduce foundational concepts in these areas, with clinical exposure to livestock herd health in the final year simply reinforcing what had been learned earlier.
This is not to suggest that competencies in subjects such as infectious disease and epidemiology could be achieved solely through the use of honeybees instead of domestic livestock. Still, honeybees provide certain advantages when introducing these subjects, allowing training to begin at an earlier time in the curriculum without the need to invest in the infrastructure needed to maintain teaching herds of livestock. For example, honeybees provide a ready example of the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health and thus can be easily used to introduce the concept of one health early in the curriculum.6
Establishing an apiary on college grounds requires minimal expense but allows teaching lessons on herd health and epidemiology through a hands-on approach under direct supervision of faculty. Additionally, in the same way that students working with domestic livestock are exposed to multiple basic and clinical science concepts, students working with honeybees can be introduced to the same concepts early in their training. Then, when these concepts are reintroduced later, students will already be familiar with them.
A honeybee colony is often referred to as a superorganism, and it has been suggested that this superorganism should be given “honorary mammal status.”10 For example, a colony maintains its core at a relatively constant temperature (approx 34° to 35 °C), much like warm-blooded mammals. The reproduction rate of the hive is rather slow because the queen is only replaced every 3 to 5 years, and all bees raised during that period represent essentially one offspring. These unique characteristics of honeybee colonies can be useful for teaching even seemingly unrelated topics, such as basic surgical principles. In some ways, for example, opening a hive to perform an inspection is similar to opening the abdomen of a mammal to perform an exploratory surgery, in that in both instances, core temperature will start to decrease, and prolonged hypothermia can have important negative effects. Similarly, it is possible to use honeybee hives to teach students how to handle diagnostic and surgical instruments.
Honeybees can be used to develop critical thinking skills in veterinary students while broadening their view of what constitutes a veterinary patient, and honeybees can be incorporated when teaching a variety of important subjects. For example, a discussion of the effects of pesticides on honeybees could be a good introduction to toxicology. Maintaining an apiary provides first- through third-year students hands-on opportunities to work with living organisms, which can be a great motivator and a refreshing change from a didactic curriculum. Being involved in the care of a hive can allow students to experience the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of a specific disease problem, something that is often not easily achievable with client-owned patients.
Current Threats to Honeybee Health
Incorporating honeybees as an animal model in veterinary education can aid in the teaching of core competencies but can also increase the literacy of veterinarians in honeybee health. Honeybee medicine is growing in importance and merits inclusion in veterinary curricula. Although honeybees are not explicitly listed in any state veterinary practice act, they are considered food-producing animals and have been domesticated by humans worldwide for many thousands of years. The earliest record of people eating honey can be dated to roughly 3 million years ago, with extensive exploitation of honeybees by people dating to around 10,000 years ago.11 Today, the economic dependence of the agricultural sector on honeybee pollination services is substantial and is estimated to be worth about $14.2 billion to $23.8 billion.12 It is therefore of utmost importance that factors affecting the health of honeybees be included in veterinary curricula. Veterinary students should graduate capable of inspecting a beehive and carrying out a clinical examination of the honeybee colony within. Students should learn how to recognize diseases of the brood (ie, the eggs, larvae, and pupae of honeybees) and adult bees and know how to collect and prepare samples of hive materials and prepare the required documentation necessary for assessment by an authorized diagnostic laboratory.13 Again, these are aspects of veterinary medicine that directly align with day-one core competencies for new veterinary graduates. Just as practicing veterinarians can provide valuable input for large animal livestock operations regarding biosecurity, perform clinical and laboratory examinations, prescribe appropriate medications, and help ensure food safety and quality for consumers, they can perform the same services for microlivestock like honeybees.
Worldwide, honeybee populations are under threat from many pathogens and parasites. The rate of loss of hives in the apiculture industry is at unprecedented levels. Colony collapse disorder is a recent syndrome characterized by the death of large numbers of honeybee colonies during the winter and spring, with some beekeepers in the United States losing 80% to 100% of their colonies in 2007.14 Since then, the percentage of colonies lost with signs of colony collapse disorder has ranged from 36% to 60%.14 If any other livestock population experienced ongoing losses at such a level, the outcry would be enormous, and sizeable financial compensation packages would be paid out to farmers suffering the loss of so many of their livestock. This situation is reason enough for veterinarians to be educated about honeybees and to be involved in finding solutions to these ongoing catastrophic problems. Although many institutes are hard at work trying to solve the mystery of colony collapse disorder, to the author’s knowledge, no veterinary college has taken the lead in this endeavor by actively including honeybee medicine in its core curriculum. In the United States, most honeybee-related veterinary education is offered only through elective courses, preselecting for students who already are aware of the problems facing the apiculture industry, rather than raising awareness of the entire class. Some universities have both a veterinary college and an entomology department on campus, and frequently, the entomology department is home to their honeybee program. Where this is the case, it would make sense to combine the resources of the 2 departments and create a joint honeybee veterinary program. At the University of Georgia, the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Entomology Department have initiated this cooperative effort, and the honeybee veterinary program is currently being developed to expand educational opportunities for veterinary students.
Honeybees in the Veterinary Curriculum in Europe
Although most veterinary colleges in the United States do not include honeybee medicine as a topic in their core curricula, the situation in Europe is very different. Published data on the status of honeybee education in veterinary colleges in the United States are not available. However, the Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium recently completed a survey of US veterinary college on this topic. The survey was open from February through April 2021 and was sent to all 38 veterinary colleges in the United States and Canada. Twenty-four (63%) colleges responded, and of those, 12 (50%) indicated they offered some form of training in honeybee medicine, 9 (37.5%) responded that they do not offer any such training, and 3 (12.5%) indicated they were unsure whether the college offered any training in honeybee medicine (K Obbink, Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium, personal communication, 2021).
In contrast, approximately 75% (58/77) of veterinary colleges across Europe teach honeybee biology or medicine as part of their standard curricula.13 Of these, 86% (50/58) incorporate honeybee veterinary medicine in their core curricula as a standalone subject or within the scope of other topics. Twenty-two veterinary colleges provide up to 10 hours of honeybee medicine to all students, and 23 dedicate between 12 and 35 hours to honeybee medicine in their core curricula.13 In addition, 19 of 77 veterinary colleges offer postgraduate training courses in honeybee medicine. The extent of this postgraduate education varies from short courses for continuous professional development of veterinary practitioners to doctoral-degree programs to national specialization programs.13
The widespread practice of integrating honeybees in European veterinary curricula has both historical and political aspects. In 2017, a “motion for a European Parliament resolution on prospects and challenges for the EU apiculture sector” was proposed, and legislation was passed that included a call for veterinary training in the apiculture industry.15 This motion specifically encouraged faculties of veterinary medicine at universities to strengthen areas of veterinary oversight and engagement.15 Additionally, the Animal Health Law of the European Union includes bees and honey in its scope.13 To date, no such political or legislative efforts have been implemented in the United States. However, implementation of the FDA’s Veterinary Feed Directive rule and changes in the FDA’s policy on medically necessary antimicrobials3 mean that honeybees in the United States fall squarely under the purview of veterinarians. These regulations will now force apiarists and veterinarians to interact from this point onward. To maximize the benefit of this experience for all parties involved, education of veterinarians regarding the apiculture industry is urgently needed. Although currently most interactions between apiarists and veterinarians involve writing prescriptions for antimicrobials, in the future these interactions should broaden to include biosecurity procedures, herd health concepts, and differences between preventative medicine and therapeutic treatment, as occur with other livestock health consultations.
Mutual Benefits of Apiarist- Veterinarian Cooperation
Just like any dairy, beef, swine, poultry, or fish farm, apiaries can benefit from veterinary input. Interestingly, honeybee management has one important difference from other types of livestock management: honeybees are the only food-producing domestic animals for which the farmer (apiarist) has little control over their animals’ primary diet. Bees usually forage within a radius of about 6 km (3.7 miles) from the hive16 and can consume food sources anywhere in that range. This lack of control over what honeybees are consuming makes their management somewhat different, because for other livestock, many medications and supplements can be administered as feed additives. Nevertheless, other considerations of medical treatment apply to honeybees. Specifically, because honeybees are food-producing animals, veterinarians must ensure that antimicrobials and pesticides used to treat specific conditions do not cause harmful residues in the pollen or honey. As an example, European foulbrood can be treated with 1 of only 3 approved antimicrobials. Oxytetracycline, the antimicrobial most often used to treat this condition, has a withdrawal time of 42 days for honey.
Additionally, as with any other farm operation, veterinarians would be expected to advise apiarists on biosecurity. For example, sterilization of tools and other equipment used between hives should be stressed and use of nonwashable or difficult-to-disinfect materials like leather gloves should be discouraged. Veterinarians should have sufficient training to be able to perform the clinical and laboratory examinations needed to confirm a suspected diagnosis and prescribe the most appropriate approved medication. Currently, apiarists primarily contact a veterinarian to obtain a Veterinary Food Directive or prescription for antimicrobials. Health certificates, when required, are currently issued by the state apiarist through the state department of agriculture.
Example of a Honeybee Health Program
Several possible approaches exist for including honeybee medicine in veterinary curricula. A standalone course is one example, but other options can be considered. Approximately 80% (38/48) of honeybee medicine programs at European veterinary colleges consist of ≤ 25 contact hours,13 and courses consisting of 15 contact hours have been developed. However, incorporating a standalone course on honeybee medicine could require substantial changes to the existing curriculum. As an alternative, aspects of honeybee medicine could be incorporated into traditional course material for subjects already included in most veterinary curricula without setting aside time for a dedicated course. At the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, > 100 students joined together to form a club dedicated to honeybee medicine in 2020. Club members can apply to be part of a Honeybee Treatment Crew, consisting of a maximum of 30 individuals directly responsible for care of the hives. Routine hive inspections are performed by first- and second-year students, during which time basic aspects of honeybee medicine and apiary management are demonstrated to and performed by the students. There is also an opportunity for fourth-year students to act as mentors for third-year students. The teaching apiary at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine consists of 8 hives. Some of the hives are equipped with electronic monitors that record core hive temperature and bee activity.
In addition, a 3-week intensive elective course for fourth-year students was designed in cooperation with the University of Georgia Honey Bee Program and offered for the first time in March 2021. This course consists of > 60 hours of didactic lectures and hands-on exercises involving all aspects of apiary management (Appendix 2) and is being co-taught by faculty from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, the University of Georgia Entomology Department, the state apiary inspector, a commercial beekeeper, a commercial honey producer, and other active members of the apiculture industry. The aim is to provide participating students with solid knowledge on examination of beehives, an understanding of how to diagnose common diseases affecting colonies such as colony collapse disorder, and background on various aspects of apiary management. Treatment protocols and appropriate treatment regimens are emphasized, which will hopefully help reduce the inappropriate use of antimicrobials in apiaries.17
Veterinary-specific Resources Regarding Honeybee Health
Just as the recent increase in the number of people raising backyard chickens has brought forward new and emerging needs for veterinarians to be involved in their local communities, a similar development can be observed in regard to backyard apiaries. In 2017, the United States had 2.88 million honeybee colonies.18 Luckily, a growing body of information specific to honeybee medicine is becoming available, and there is increasing potential for veterinarians to play a larger role in protecting honeybees. One organization in particular that is addressing the topic of honeybee medicine is the Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium,19 which provides information to students and professionals from all segments of veterinary medicine and animal science who are interested in bees and beekeeping. The Food Animal Residue Avoidance and Depletion hosts a collection of websites relevant to the topic of honeybee medicine,20 and the AVMA hosts a webpage dedicated to the veterinary care of honeybees.21 Several textbooks written and edited by veterinarians are also available.22,23
Summary
Honeybee medicine should be included in veterinary curricula for 2 reasons: apiaries can be used to expose veterinary students to important clinical competencies, and veterinary expertise is needed to improve honeybee health. Working with honeybees provides a great teaching opportunity for veterinary students during all 4 years of their training and exposes future veterinarians to their role in maintaining honeybee health. Armed with an exposure to and education in honeybee medicine during their veterinary training, future veterinarians will be able treat a house call to an apiary with the same level of comfort and expertise they would bring to any other house call, whether for a pet or a farm animal.
Acknowledgments
Funding to establish and maintain the teaching apiary at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine was provided by the Georgia Beekeeper Association, Office of the Dean, and Department of Small Animal Surgery and Medicine.
No third-party funding or support was received in connection with the writing or publication of this manuscript. The author declares that there were no conflicts of interest.
The author thanks Dr. Janet Martin for substantial editing of the manuscript.
References
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German Civil Code. 2020. Accessed November 30, 2020. www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_bgb/englisch_bgb.html#p3873
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Resources on veterinary feed directives cover honeybees, aquaculture. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2017;250:952.
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Goulson D, Nicholls E. The canary in the coalmine; bee declines as an indicator of environmental health. Sci Prog. 2016;99(3):312–326.
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de Jongh EJ, Harper SL, Yamamoto SS, et al. One health, one hive: a scoping review of honey bees, climate change, pollutants, and antimicrobial resistance. bioRxiv 2020.
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Donkersley P, Elsner-Adams E, Maderson S. A one-health model for reversing honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) decline. Vet Sci. 2020;7(3):119.
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COE accreditation policies and procedures: 4. The AVMA and accreditation. AVMA. Accessed May 25, 2021. www.avma.org/education/accreditation/colleges/coe-accreditation-policies-and-procedures-avma
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AAVMC Working Group on Competency-Based Education. Molgaard LK, Hodgson JL, Bok HGJ, et al. Competency-based veterinary education: part 1—CBVE framework. American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges; 2018.
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Weber E. Apis mellifera: the domestication and spread of European honey bees for agriculture in North America. Univ Mich Undergrad Res J. 2012;9:20–23.
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Degrandi-Hoffman G, Graham H, Ahumada F, Smart M, Ziolkowski N. The economics of honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) management and overwintering strategies for colonies used to pollinate almonds. J Econ Entomol. 2019;112(6):2524–2533.
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Iatridou D, Pohl L, Tlak Gajger I, De Briyne N, Bravo A, Saunders J. Mapping the teaching of honeybee veterinary medicine in the European Union and European Free Trade Area. Vet Rec Open. 2019;6(1):e000343.
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Stindl R, Stindl W Jr. Vanishing honey bees: is the dying of adult worker bees a consequence of short telomeres and premature aging? Med Hypotheses. 2010;75(4):387–390.
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Report on prospects and challenges for the EU apiculture sector (2017/2115(INI)). Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development Rapporteur. Accessed September 7, 2020. www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+REPORT+A8-2018-0014+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN
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Hagler JR, Mueller S, Teuber LR, Machtley SA, Van Deynze A. Foraging range of honey bees, Apis mellifera, in alfalfa seed production fields. J Insect Sci. 2011;11:144.
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Zabrodski MW, Wilson G, Moshynskyy I, et al. Investigation of clinical outbreaks of American foulbrood in honey-bee operations in Saskatchewan. Can Vet J. 2020;61(10):1055–1059.
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Honey bee surveys and reports. USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. Accessed May 26, 2021. nass.usda.gov/Surveys/Guide_to_NASS_Surveys/Bee_and_Honey/
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Welcome to the Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium. Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium. Accessed May 26, 2021. www.hbvc.org
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Welcome to the Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium. Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium. Accessed May 26, 2021. www.hbvc.org
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Honey bees 101 for veterinarians. AVMA. Accessed May 26, 2021. www.avma.org/honey-bees-101-veterinarians
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Vidal-Naquet N, Vallat B, Lewbart G. Honeybee veterinary medicine: Apis mellifera L. 5M Publishing; 2015.
Appendix 1
Examples of how honeybees could be incorporated into veterinary curricula to teach core competencies identified by the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges’ Working Group on Competency-Based Veterinary Education (CBVE).8
Selected CBVE competencies and subcompetencies, with examples related to honeybee medicine in parentheses
1.1 Gathers and assimilates relevant information about animals
a. Collects history (questions apiarist)
b. Performs physical examination (examines hives)
c. Interprets diagnostic test results (reviews previous test results)
d. Performs necropsy examination (examines hives and individual bees macroscopically and microscopically)
1.2 Synthesizes and prioritizes problems to arrive at differential diagnoses
a. Identifies problems (identifies Varroa mite infestation)
b. Creates refined problem list (identifies other problems in affected hives)
c. Prioritizes differential diagnoses (determines importance of Varroa mite infestation versus other problems)
1.3 Creates and adjusts a diagnostic and/or treatment plan based on available evidence
a. Appraises available clinical information and acts accordingly despite uncertainty (evaluates Varroa mite treatment protocol)
b. Explains justification for plan (determines why previous treatment or lack of treatment caused problems)
c. Re-evaluates animal or population in a timely manner to adjust plan (schedules follow-up examination of hive to reassess and reapply treatment if needed)
d. Uses critical thinking to determine appropriate action when unexpected outcomes occur (e.g., complications, changed diagnosis (reassesses situation if colony collapses or declines despite treatment)
1.4 Incorporates animal welfare, client expectations, and economic considerations into the diagnostic or treatment plan
a. Considers disease in context of the whole animal and client (judges colony strength and evaluates treatment feasibility with client)
b. Presents a range of options to the client (discusses treatment options, potential outcomes, and costs)
c. Considers euthanasia as a management option when appropriate (discusses benefits of treatment versus repopulation)
1.7 Recognizes limitations of knowledge, skill, and resources and consults as needed
a. Identifies situations in which referral is warranted (discusses cases with experts such as master beekeepers or entomologists)
b. Consults experts both within and outside the veterinary profession (discusses cases with experts such as master beekeepers or entomologists)
2.1 Performs veterinary procedures and post-procedural care
a. Performs elective procedures (e.g., castration) (performs routine Varroa mite surveillance testing)
b. Performs routine therapeutic procedures (e.g., administer fluids) (applies preventative Varroa mite treatment in spring and fall)
c. Manages patient comfort (learns and applies nonlethal methods of testing for Varroa mites versus terminal testing methods)
2.2 Promotes comprehensive wellness and preventive care
a. Recommends disease prevention measures (develops a yearly, routine preventative plan to minimize damage from Varroa mites)
b. Provides nutritional counseling appropriate to life stage and health status (times treatment to time of year when it will be most effective)
c. Advises clients regarding routine care (times treatment to time of year when it will be most effective)
3.1 Applies population management principles in compliance with legal regulations and economic realities
a. Recommends disease prevention measures (develops a yearly, routine preventative plan to minimize damage from Varroa mites)
b. Advises on nutritional management (recommends certain products available to promote honeybee health)
c. Recommends housing and husbandry protocols (reviews husbandry routine and makes recommendations)
d. Designs therapeutic plans for disease management (develops a specific plan to combat Varroa mites adapted to the client’s situation and abilities)
3.2 Recommends and evaluates protocols for biosecurity
a. Develops isolation protocols (develops biosecurity protocol for apiary)
b. Selects disinfection protocols (develops routine protocol to disinfect tools)
c. Recommends protocols for animal movement (works with state apiarist regarding the movement of bees)
5.1 Listens attentively and communicates professionally
a. Communicates with diverse audiences (e.g., demonstrates empathy, uses terminology appropriate to listener) (lectures to local beekeeper associations about specific aspects of honeybee health and veterinary options)
b. Utilizes a variety of communication platforms (e.g., email) (lectures to local beekeeper associations about specific aspects of honeybee health and veterinary options)
5.2 Adapts communication style to colleagues and clients
a. Demonstrates client-centered communication (communicates effectively with apiarists)
b. Elicits client goals, expectations, perspectives, and constraints, considering the human-animal bond (identifies goals of clients (private vs commercial beekeeper))
c. Engages clients in difficult conversations such as financial decisions and end-of-life care (e.g., palliative care and euthanasia) (informs client when a hive is lost and treatment is futile or not possible)
5.3 Prepares documentation appropriate for the intended audience
a. Documents care and communication using professional terminology (establishes and maintains medical record for each hive)
b. Ensures documentation fulfills professional and legal requirements (is aware of regulations for drug usage and withdrawal times)
6.1 Solicits, respects and integrates contributions from others
a. Invites input from others irrespective of role, hierarchy or background (seeks advice from individuals outside the veterinary field such as master beekeepers and entomologists)
b. Acknowledges input and incorporates into ongoing plan of action (works as a team with other stakeholders)
c. Leverages own role and roles of others to achieve shared goals (illustrates to other parties the benefit of veterinary medicine in the apiculture industry)
6.3 Maintains ongoing relationship to provide continuity of collaborative effort
a. Follows up to determine if collaborator can implement the plan (monitors colonies and follows up to evaluate efficacy of treatment)
b. Provides support through encouragement, education, or redirection to refine the plan of action (evaluates and introduces new treatments to clients)
7.1 Adopts an ethical approach to meeting professional obligations
a. Applies an ethical approach to professional decision-making (adheres to regulations for drug use)
b. Recognizes and responds to evidence of neglect and abuse (informs client of the need for regular hive inspections)
7.2 Practices time management
a. Recognizes impact of time management on stakeholders (establishes a routine inspection plan that is feasible)
b. Prioritizes and completes tasks according to importance and urgency (recognizes which colonies need immediate intervention and which cannot be saved)
7.4 Engages in self-directed learning and career planning
a. Engages in self-directed learning as a foundation for life-long learning (remains actively involved in continuing education events regarding honeybee health)
b. Identifies and undertakes professional development to meet learning needs (remains actively involved in continuing education events regarding honeybee health)
c. Uses appropriate resources for learning and decision making (e.g., information technology, consultation with colleagues) (accesses specific veterinary-related books and other resource regarding honeybee health)
d. Compares career paths and weighs professional and personal rewards (e.g., financial implications) (integrates honeybee clientele in routine veterinary business)
8.1 Weighs economic factors in personal and business decision-making
a. Applies financial principles to professional decisions (e.g., debt repayment plan) (develops treatment plan with cost estimates for clients)
8.2 Delivers veterinary services compliant with legal and regulatory requirements
a. Acts in accordance with codes of professional practice, veterinary practice acts and licensing board regulations (e.g., veterinarian-client-patient relationship) (establishes a veterinarian-client-apiary relationship
b. Acts in accordance with legal and regulatory requirements (e.g., reportable diseases, animal cruelty, waste disposal) (adheres to regulations for drug use)
c. Selects drugs in accordance with regulatory and legal requirements (e.g., controlled substances, extra-label, or off-label drug use) (uses only drugs approved for specific conditions and circumstances)
8.3 Advocates for the health and safety of patients, clients, and members of the team within the workplace
a. Complies with workplace health and safety regulations (e.g., radiation safety, infection control) (is familiar with use of protective gear)
9.1 Evaluates health-related information
a. Retrieves and evaluates information based on research principles (routinely reviews current scientific literature for information on honeybee medicine)
b. Analyzes information for accuracy, reliability, validity and applicability (routinely reviews current scientific literature for information on honeybee medicine)
9.2 Integrates, adapts and applies knowledge and skills
a. Formulates questions and customizes solutions, drawing on personal experience and available evidence (formulates an apiary-specific treatment plan)
b. Applies literature to solve clinical or scientific problems (e.g., evidence-based practice) (performs literature searches to identify latest treatment information)
c. Applies creativity to develop innovative solutions (applies biological control methods in instances when drugs cannot be used)
9.3 Disseminates knowledge and practices to stakeholders
a. Develops and disseminates educational material (promotes veterinary services at local beekeeper meetings and organization)
b. Explains evidence-based recommendations (communicates new findings with clients and informs them of novel, effective treatment options)
Appendix 2
Outline of a 3-week course at the University of Georgia (UGA) on apiary management for veterinary students.
Week 1
• Welcome and introduction
• Historical and global aspects of bee keeping
• Biology of honeybees
• Biology of the colony
• Honeybee nutrition
• Discussion
Monday
• Equipment and locations
• The migrating hive industry
• Anatomy of the hive and the bee
• Visit to the UGA hives on campus
• Performing a hive inspection
• Discussion
Tuesday
• Bacterial and fungal diseases of honeybees
• Honeybee pests and parasites: Varroa destructor, tracheal mites, and small hive beetles
• Discussion
Wednesday
• Winter and spring management
• Summer and fall management
• Flowering plants and trees for bees
• Other pests and diseases of honeybees
• Integrated pest management
• Discussion
Thursday
• The honeybee as a superorganism
• Multiple mating in bees
• Visit to UGA Bee Lab
• Methods for Varroa mite and small hive beetle control
• Discussion
Friday
Week 2
• Bee toxicology
• Veterinary Feed Directives for honeybees
• Necropsy of a hive
• Disease investigation
• Honeybee pathology
• Discussion
Monday
• Technology used to monitor hives
• Apiary safety practices
• Apitherapy
• Races of honeybees
• Discussion
Tuesday
• Field trip to state apiary inspector
• Discussion
Wednesday
• Population biology, pest management, and epidemiology
• Holistic integration of honeybee health
• Food, medication, and diversity
• Evolutionary beekeeping
Thursday
• Visit to commercial beekeeping operation
Friday
Week 3
• Queen rearing
• Queen-rearing workshop
• Principles of swarms
• Tour of local beekeepers� club
• Discussion
Monday
• The secret life of drones
• Searching for drone congregation areas
• Field trip to UGA Botanical Gardens Pollinator Garden
• Discussion
Tuesday
• Visit to honey company
• Discussion
Wednesday
• Diseases of the queen
• Student presentations
• Discussion
Thursday
• Student-run hive inspections
• Final exam
• Discussion
