How Veterinarians Can Educate Themselves About Bees

"There are multiple ways for veterinarians to get educated," says Terry Ryan Kane, DVM, MS, founder of A2 Bee Vet. "I took beekeeping when I was in vet school from University of Illinois Extension Service, every land-grant college has extension service. So, any veterinarian that wants to take get involved with beekeeping can check their extension service, local bee clubs, they can volunteer there, most bee clubs have mentorship programs, or you can volunteer to work with a beekeeper. YouTube videos, there's hundreds of those, and then coming to talks like this.

I take such great pleasure in sharing what I've learned over the years with other veterinarians, and I'm in touch with entomologists around the country that are actually welcoming veterinarians into the fold. Truth be told, antibiotics have been used and misused in bee medicine, just like they were/are in other production, and I think that cattle, dairy, poultry, swine producers expected these guidelines, but the bee culture kind of got caught asleep at the wheel. And so, it's going to take time for us to educate ourselves as well as to establish a VCPR with somebody we need to know of where we speak. And so, we need to educate ourselves and learn the lingo, the timing I think we should keep bees to know the animal, and get to know the beekeepers."