Ah, bees! These small buzzing creatures play a colossal role in our ecosystems and agriculture. Did you know they face a slew of challenges, especially when it comes to their health? Between parasites, various diseases, and pesticides, our bee friends really need a helping hand. However, caring for these little insects is not as simple as it seems. Let’s delve into this adventure together to understand the stakes of their medication, the regulations to follow, and how climate change is shaking things up.
Firstly, imagine the complexity of creating medications for a creature as small and unique as the bee. It’s not like treating your cat or dog. Bees have their own way of life, organized in society, highly sensitive to chemicals, and crucial for pollination and honey production.1-2 To concoct the right remedy, one must consider their well-being both individually and collectively, ensuring not to poison their environment or our plates with contaminated honey. In short, it’s a true scientific and ethical puzzle.
Add to that the variability of environments within hives, not to mention the omnipresent threats of parasites3, pathogens, and pesticides. This complex alchemy requires deep and innovative thinking in medication development, where each variable must be carefully considered to ensure effective and respectful protection of these hardworking nature’s laborers.
Developing medications for our bee friends also involves embracing the world of veterinary regulation. This rigor serves only one purpose: to oversee the safety of these pollinators, beekeepers, and consumers of hive products; while ensuring treatment effectiveness and minimizing our footprint on the environment.4 The backstage of this scientific adventure is filled with crucial steps, ranging from efficacy tests to toxicological evaluations, not to mention meticulous residue analyses and environmental impact studies. These explorations are often conducted in various regions to test multiple climatic conditions.
But the adventure doesn’t stop there. For these innovations to see the light of day in compliance with the strictest standards, additional steps are necessary: stability studies are conducted with care, accompanied by validation of manufacturing processes. Like pieces of a puzzle, each document, each test contributes to building a solid file, in harmony with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and regulatory guidelines. It’s this quest for precision and excellence that paves the way for obtaining valuable authorizations, opening the door to the marketing of veterinary medication for our precious bees.
At the heart of developing treatments for our bees lies an essential trio: the kinetics (dynamics) of medications, with appropriate formulation and precise concentration (dosage).5 It’s important to understand pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, i.e., how medications are absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and eliminated by bees, as well as how active ingredients interact with receptors. This understanding is fundamental for effectively combating diseases while limiting side effects.
Formulation is crucial for the product’s kinetics, stability, and to ensure easy and controlled administration. Dosage (concentration) also plays a critical role, as it’s about finding the right balance between treatment efficacy and toxicity minimization, thus ensuring bee safety and colony health. These elements are vital to avoid the emergence of resistance and to maintain the effectiveness of therapeutic approaches over the long term.
Playing with the dosage of medications in hopes of more effectively defeating parasites may seem appealing at first glance. However, this approach can prove counterproductive, leading to higher toxicity, development of resistance, environmental damage, and unnecessary cost escalation.6
In reality, the efficacy of a medication largely depends on its formulation – its composition and method of application – which can radically alter its action, even at identical concentrations. Two medications at equal concentration can behave entirely differently depending on their composition and application form. This topic warrants a deeper exploration, which we will delve into in a forthcoming article.
Rather than blindly increasing doses, adopting an integrated approach to combat parasites offers a more thoughtful and effective solution. Managing bee colonies, similar to managing a farm, requires a strategy where breeding practices are as crucial as medication use.7
The integrated pest management (IPM) approach embraces this philosophy, combining cultural, biological, and chemical control for sustainable impact.7,8 Its aim? Minimizing effects on non-target organisms, reducing resistance risk, and safeguarding bee health and our ecosystems.9,10,11
This thoughtful approach underscores the importance of considering all aspects of bee health, the environment, and the broader implications of our interventions, guiding towards more sustainable practices respectful of life in all its forms.
In the world of beekeeping, the attraction to using unauthorized bee medications, “home-made” treatments, or products imported from abroad remains a major concern. Despite the existence of legal and approved treatments in beekeeping, the complexity of hive management, economic challenges, and a general lack of awareness may drive some beekeepers towards illegal options.
It’s not uncommon to see treatments intended for other animals, such as cattle, diverted from their initial use. These risky practices are not without consequences: they threaten bee health12, encourage resistance emergence13, can contaminate hive products due to improper dosage or excessive application14,15, and lead to environmental repercussions.
The use of these illegal treatments is, naturally, prohibited and exposes to severe legal consequences. Emphasizing the importance of this issue to beekeepers is crucial. It’s essential to promote access to treatments developed and specifically tested for bees and to address economic issues that may incentivize turning to such practices. Furthermore, it’s about fostering a culture of responsibility and encouraging legal and ethical beekeeping practices, thereby contributing to a safer and more sustainable environment for our precious bees and consumers of hive products.16,17
Climate change also poses new challenges in bee health and affects the effectiveness of treatments administered to them18,19,20. Between the vagaries of the thermometer, disruptions in metabolic rhythms, the emergence of new diseases/parasites, changes in foraging habits, and the multiplication of environmental stressors, it becomes imperative to rethink our approach to veterinary medicine for these essential pollinators.
This new climate era forces us to anticipate, innovate, and consider adapting existing treatments, as well as designing new medication solutions that consider these constantly evolving variables. Tomorrow’s medications must be designed with a perspective where climate change is a central consideration for their effectiveness and safety.
Climate change also accentuates the challenge of bee nutrition, with dwindling resources and rising temperatures threatening their food supply. Facing this changing reality is not only a scientific and technical challenge but also an ecological imperative to ensure bee survival and, by extension, the survival of our food system.
Beekeeping plays a fundamental role in the balance of our ecosystems, impacting not only bee health but also that of all living beings. The principle of “One Health” 10,11,15 – we didn’t invent it, it’s the WHO that talks about it – which recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, plant, and our shared environment health, emphasizes the importance of a holistic approach in managing bee colony health and well-being. This “One Health” principle may not ring a bell to you, but it encourages a deeper understanding of the reciprocal effects between beekeeping practices and the global ecosystem.
The bee as an individual represents the pinnacle of this One Health challenge, having a foothold in agriculture and a direct impact on pollination, in human health through apitherapy and consumption products (honey, pollen…), as well as in animal health with the “colony” superorganism.
In this context, collaboration becomes essential: beekeepers, scientists, policymakers, and the public must work together to develop strategies that support bee health while preserving biodiversity and ensuring healthy environments for all.21
By aligning beekeeping practices with the goals of “One Health“, we can contribute to building a future where the health of our planet is considered in an integrated manner, recognizing that the well-being of bees is inseparable from our own health and that of our environment.10,11,15
This integrated approach is not just a utopian vision but a practical necessity to address the complex challenges of our time, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and emerging health threats.
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by Véto-pharma 
by Juan Molina 
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