Developing Microencapsulated Medicines to Protect Honey Bees

Honey bees are a crucial part of US agriculture through their pollination activities and the value of hive products. Nevertheless, they are suffering from parasitic mite diseases, new pests, and potentially from antibiotic resistant pathogens. Protecting honey bee stocks from these threats requires integrated and multi-pronged approaches. Moreover, consumer demands are for reduced usage of harsh chemicals in association with foods, etc. The proof of concept of the use of botanicals or organic acids to help in protecting honey bees is established through microencapsulated menthol fed in sugar patties to overwintering honey bees in their hives. This proposal is to test similarly "softer" chemicals that are known to have potential for suppression of parasitic mites or other pathogens (American Foul Brood). Testing will determine target animal safety and efficacy (non-lethal doses to honey bees but suppress incidence of disease). Feeding trials will determine which materials, when fed to honey bees, become systemic and are safe. The safe materials will be microencapsulated and fed to honey bees in laboratory trials to determine efficacy and acceptance by bees with a view to commercialization of new honey bee medicaments.