AFB Vaccine for Honey Bees with Dr. Keith Delaplane (S5, E30)

A vaccine for American Foulbrood? Really? Yes, really! We sit down with Dr. Keith Delaplane at the University of Georgia as he explains why his honey bee research lab is involved in this project, how this vaccine works, when it will be ready, and what it will mean to beekeepers around the world.

The Dalan Animal Health Company, a private research firm, has figured out a way to deliver a queen honey bee the American Foulbrood bacterial extract, with the result that every egg she lays after that turns into an adult honey bee immune to this very nasty, expensive disease.

That was the first step. What Dalan needed was a good honey bee research team to take this information and find out how to get it to work in an everyday apiary. Dr. Delaplane’s lab was just the place. A great reputation for a wide range of research projects with skilled scientists, lots and lots of colonies to work with, and the University’s Veterinary school right on campus. It’s a great collaborative effort and it’s only the first step in developing vaccines for all kinds of honey bee maladies.

We hope you enjoy the episode. Leave comments and questions in the Comments Section of the episode's website.

Thank you for listening!

Links and websites mentioned in this podcast: 

• University of Georgia Bee Lab - https://bees.caes.uga.edu/
• Dalan Animal Health - https://www.dalan.com/science
• Honey Bee Health Coalition - https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/resources/managing-foulbrood/
• Beekeeping Today Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@beekeepingtodaypodcast
• Honey Bee Obscura: https://www.honeybeeobscura.com

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This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global offers a variety of standard and custom patties. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode! 

We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. Betterbee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com

Thanks for Northern Bee Books for their support. Northern Bee Books is the publisher of bee books available worldwide from their website or from Amazon and bookstores everywhere. They are also the publishers of The Beekeepers Quarterly and Natural Bee Husbandry.

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We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments in the show notes of this episode or: [email protected]

Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com

Thank you for listening! 

Podcast music: Be Strong by Young Presidents; Epilogue by Musicalman; Walking in Paris by Studio Le Bus; A Fresh New Start by Pete Morse; Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott

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