What Is Honey Bee Medicine?
Honey bee medicine focuses on the health of honey bees and their colonies. Because bees live and work together, veterinary care considers the colony as a whole, including its environment, nutrition, and signs of disease or parasites.
You may hear the terms apiculture, which means beekeeping, and apiary, which means a place where beehives are kept. You don’t need to know the terminology before reaching out. We’ll explain what you need to know in clear, practical language.
When Should You Contact a Veterinarian About Your Bees?
Contact our team when you notice an unexplained change in your colony or have concerns about its health. We also recommend twice-yearly veterinary exams, particularly before and after overwintering, when colonies face an increased risk of disease and illness.
Reasons to seek veterinary guidance include:
- A declining bee population or unusual numbers of dead bees
- Changes in normal hive activity
- Concerns about mites or other parasites
- Changes in eggs, larvae, or pupae, collectively called brood
- Questions about possible disease or colony losses
- Preparing your colony for overwintering or evaluating its health in the spring
These findings can have several causes. A veterinary evaluation can help clarify the concern, identify potential health risks, and guide recommendations to support your colony throughout the year.
Meet Our Honey Bee Veterinarian
Dr. Jean Kheng currently provides honey bee care at Veterinary Center for Birds and Exotics. Her interest began during an undergraduate course in beekeeping and honey bee management and continued through visits to the Honey Bee Research Centre at the University of Guelph.
She later joined the first group of 12 veterinarians formally trained in Honey Bee Medicine by the Ontario Veterinary College. That training included hands-on work at beekeeping sites and case reviews.
Today, she brings that experience to our growing honey bee service, supporting both new and experienced beekeepers.
What Can You Expect During Your Honey Bees’ Appointment?
Your appointment starts with a conversation about your colony and what you’ve noticed. Dr. Kheng will ask about your bees’ activity, hive conditions, recent changes, and any previous health concerns or treatments. Whether you’re new to beekeeping or have cared for hives for years, your observations help guide the evaluation.
Your appointment also includes a full hive inspection, allowing Dr. Kheng to take a closer look at your colony’s health, assess brood patterns, and check for signs of disease, parasites, or other concerns.
Following the hive inspection, she’ll discuss her findings, explain whether additional testing may help, and walk you through her recommendations. You’ll have time to ask questions and leave with a clearer picture of the next steps for your colony.
Please contact our team at (914) 864-1414 before your appointment for instructions about photos, records, samples, or hive materials to provide.
Frequently Asked Questions About Honey Bees
Colony collapse disorder, or CCD, describes a pattern in which most worker bees disappear, leaving behind the queen, young bees, and food stores. Researchers have not identified a single confirmed cause. They have investigated interacting factors such as parasites, disease, pesticide exposure, poor nutrition, and environmental stress.
Not every colony loss is CCD. Determining what happened requires considering the colony’s history and the findings in and around the hive.
Honey bees can acquire parasites through contact with other bees and movement between colonies. Varroa mites, a major honey bee parasite, can spread when infested bees enter another hive through drifting or robbing behavior. Moving infested bees or brood between hives can also spread mites.
A healthy honey bee queen can lay approximately 1,500 to 2,000 eggs per day during peak laying periods. Egg production varies with the season, the queen’s age and health, available food, and colony conditions.
A honey bee’s lifespan depends on its role and the season. Worker bees typically live about five to six weeks during the active season, while workers that carry the colony through winter may live several months. Drones generally live for several weeks, and queens can live for several years.