OBA Antibiotic Progress Bulletin
November 28, 2018
New antibiotic regulations will come into effect on Saturday, December 1, 2018 that will affect Ontario (and Canadian) beekeepers and their access to antibiotics used to control American foulbrood.
This legislation is the result of a World Health Organization (WHO) decision to reduce the use of antibiotics worldwide. The main goal of this legislation is to prevent or slow the development of antibiotic resistance in diseases that affect human health. One key effect of this legislation is that all antibiotics used in livestock – which includes bees – must be prescribed by veterinarians. In beekeeping, we use antibiotics to prevent the development of the devastating American foulbrood (AFB). Once infected, the only “treatment” is to burn the colonies and equipment, bees included.
