A year ago in January, after more than 5 years of discussion and revisions, the FDA issued a new Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD), which essentially requires a licensed veterinarian to prescribe antibiotics for use to treat virtually any animal, including bees.
 
Antibiotics, especially the powdered forms, have disappeared from Farm and Ranch stores shelves, as well as on line sources.  FDA's purpose is to reduce antibiotic pesticide exposure to human consuming meat and other animal products.
 
FDA apparently didn't even consider that bees were classified as animals and as livestock.  Regardless, there's no indication that FDA will change their minds and exempt bees.
 
The major problem is that most veterinarians have no training in bees,  bee pests and diseases, nor do they have any real knowledge of invertebrate physiology and anatomy.
 
From the narrowest viewpoint, the FDA Directive is aimed at the use of antibiotics commonly used by medical doctors who treat humans.  For bees that means TM, Tylosin, and Lincomycin, which are legal in most states and provinces for control of European Foul Brood.  In most states, antibiotic treatment is legally limited to colonies displaying signs of EFB.  Many states still have a mandatory burn for AFB.
 
Obviously, you can't cart your beehive into the  veterinarians reception room.  According the the  Directive, there is supposed to be evidence that a veterinarian periodically 'sees' the patient.  For beekeeping businesses with lots of colonies, a VCPR (Veterianary Client Patient Relationship) form has to be in place, with signatures of both  the beekeeper and the verterinarian.
 
Finding  a veterinarian to inspect and issue prescriptions for treatment of bee colonies can be difficult.  There is a registry online of veterinarians who have indicated that they have the knowledge and who are willing to do take on bees as patients.
 
Many veterinarians won't take on bees.  They either recognize that they don't know anything about bees and as such aren't qualified, or they fear that if they make the wrong diagnosis or do anything wrong, they may lose their state license.  Many have all of the business that they can manage, and they aren't taking on new patients, especially six-legged ones.  
 
For example, since we have labs who work with animals at UM, the University has it's own, on-site veterinarian.  She's willing to work with us, but she won't even consider bees and beekeepers outside of the University - she recognizes her own limitations and does not want to risk losing her license.
 
On the flip side, there are veterinarians who see an opportunity of making money and freely advertise they will 'treat' bees, regardless of whether they know anything about bees or not.
 
Rural states like MT have a particularly difficult problem.  We've got nearly 200,000 colonies at over 5500 registered apiary locations, but in the most rural areas, there might be one or two veterinarians within a 100 miles radius.
 
Urban areas with lots of veterinarians who focus on pets usually have someone who will add bees to their patient list.
 
The Veterinary Associations are now providing training at their conferences.  However, it's likely to be a simple Power Point - this is AFB, this is EFB, these are the new rules.  There's nothing about other bee pests and disease, nothing about safely working bees - both human safety and avoiding crushing queens, chilling brood.
 
With mites, beetles, bacterial, viral, microsporidial, and other pests and diseases, N American bees clearly could use veterinarians.  But this one pathogen directive doesn't help.
 
In MT the state beekeepers had to go to the Veterinary licensing board and explain all of this to them.  That resulted in a clarification of what the Board expects of the licensed veterinarians in the state in order to remain complaint with licensing issues.  It also lead to the establishment of a licensed Pharmacy.   The next stop was the State Medical Veterinarian Association, where I agreed to provide training to their members, both at their twice-yearly state conferences and via an Online Course (which we're filming this summer).
 
Large beekeepers who treat for EFB need large amounts of antibiotic, and there has to be a licensed pharmacy.  One of the members of the MT Licensing Board helped guide Rick at Western Bee through all of the paperwork.   As such, Western Bee in Polson, MT is now a licensed pharmacy, serving the western states.
 
As for your original question, you'll have to do some work finding a veterinarian.  One bit of advice from our ownmState Licensing Board.  Do not call up a veterinarian and state - I need antibiotics for  my bees, and I need it now.  They'll probably politely decline or just hang up.  By the very act of demanding drugs, you've violated the Directive.  Rather, you need to call and ask if the doctor is taking on new patients, six-legged patients (bees), and if so, can you set up an appointment to fill out the paperwork to establish a veterinarian patient client relationship.  That's the proper and legal approach.
 
I can relate in another way. New West insurance, with 20 years of service to senior citizens, suddenly went out of business, a year ago in December. 
 
That left a lot of us in a scramble to find new insurers.  I ended up with Humana.  But, my long term doctor, an internist, wasn't on the list of in their approved network doctors.   My internist, who for decades has been my doctor, is nearing retirement himself.   Humana more or less forced me to find a new doctor.
 
It wasn't easy.  I needed someone accepting a Senior citizen, Medicare, and  Humana.  None  had any obligation of taking on new patients, and there was a flood of us from the University, who got left out in the cold when our carrier declared that it was closing. 
 
My advice, in every state and province (the VFD is coming to Canada this year),  the local beekeeping associations should establish a Committee, who will reach out to local veterinarians and identify those who can and will treat bee colonies.
 
 
 
 


             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html