The first bee pollen approved in the United States

A US biotechnology company has received approval from the US Department of Agriculture to publish its first bee vaccine.

• Also read: Bees: Beekeepers experiencing ‘their worst harvest’

Developed by Dalan Animal Health, it aims to protect bees from Americanbrood, an aggressive bacteria that spreads rapidly from hive to hive and is fatal to honey bees.

The pollen is mixed with the food given by the queens so that they ingest bacteria that inhibit disease.

This allows the larvae that hatch in the hive to be resistant to infection.

According to data collected by Dalan Animal Health, the vaccine is safe and has no effect on the life expectancy of queens who receive it.

Since there is no known cure for the disease, beekeepers previously had to burn infected hives in order to stop the spread.

So the vaccine gives them hope of eradicating this disease, which would affect a quarter of bee hives in the United States, reports the Guardian daily.

This breakthrough could allow the development of other vaccines to try to eradicate other diseases affecting bees around the world.

According to the USDA, three-quarters of plants and one-third of food crops depend on pollination to survive.