Honey Bee Medicine for the Veterinary Practitioner

The list of animal patients that veterinarians are tasked with diagnosing and treating
includes honey bee colonies. A honey bee colony is an animal but is more accurately
described as a superorganism; an organism comprised of thousands of organisms. Almost
every aspect of the biology of this highly social insect colony is distinct from vertebrate
biology and so treating a colony of bees requires special training and education. A bee hive
cannot be brought into a clinic for treatment; the veterinarian must don a bee suit and have
basic beekeeping skills to open a colony to conduct a health evaluation. This excellent
compendium of chapters, each written by experts in both veterinarian medicine and honey
bee biology, is an essential reference book for all veterinarians willing to diagnose and
appreciate honey bee colonies on bees' own terms.

Marla Spivak, PhD, specializes in apiculture and social insects and is the Distinguished McKnight University Professor at the University of Minnesota.

Read this book and bee informed! Honey bees occupy a critical role in both in our natural ecosystem and human society. They are arguably the most important pollinators for global agriculture today. But they face challenges today in the form of environmental pollution and climate change. Bee keepers and veterinary practitioners play a critical role as stewards of these magnificent and important insects, and this book is an essential resource for both.

Michael Mann, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, and author with Peter Hotez of Science Under Siege.