Devastating diseases
American foulbrood is one of these devastating diseases, which often results in the complete destruction of infected hives. It leaves behind moribund, putrefying hive larvae. Recently, however, there's been a new player in the battle against this disease...
A vaccine against American foulbrood is being tested
A vaccine to combat American foulbrood is being tested in the United States, and according to the team that developed it, there's a good chance that it will be available in Canada as early as 2024. The vaccine works in a surprisingly simple way: worker bees are fed "(pollen) candy" containing deactivated American foulbrood bacteria, which are then shared in fragments with the colony's queen in royal jelly. The queen naturally develops immunity to the disease, using her own internal biological mechanisms. She then instinctively shares this immunity with her offspring by giving birth to them. Without being completely invulnerable, the new generations of bees in the hive are much more resistant to the bacterial disease, having already come into contact with it from the moment they were born.
Why devote so much effort to designing such a vaccine?
The decline in bee populations is very worrying. To say that they are essential to our food system as it currently functions is no exaggeration. Honeybees are used in many crops to achieve adequate yields and desirable fruit sizes. Without them, we wouldn't have such easy access to the big, round apples we know.
As this is the first insect vaccine ever brought to market, the full potential of this discovery is not yet known. It’s clear, however, that this vaccine is no magic potion. The threats to bees remain numerous.
However, this vaccine could be an additional tool that beekeepers could have at their fingertips if they so wished. We now know that insects can acquire immunity, even though their immune systems are quite different from ours. This in itself is a revolution! It opens the door to a world of possibilities.
Perhaps we could even help bees develop immunity to other life-threatening diseases?