Content Spotlight
2024 Feedstuffs Feed Ingredient Analysis Table
It's back! Feedstuffs has updated its feed ingredient analysis values table of more than 100 commonly used feed ingredients.
World’s largest honeybee field trials show product improves health and mite control.
January 23, 2018
In the midst of a global epidemic of honeybee colony loss; Heathy Bees LLC unveiled BeesVita Plus — a first-of-its-kind, all-natural, scientific breakthrough nutritional supplement that bolsters resistance to pesticides and disease and suppresses deadly parasite infestations, according to field trials and lab tests conducted by researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the University of Maryland’s Bee Informed Partnership and in Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Turkey and by beekeepers in California, Florida, Pennsylvania and around the world.
The unveiling of BeesVita Plus and the research results were announced at the 75th annual American Beekeeping Federation conference in Reno, Nev.
“BeesVita Plus is conducting the largest field trials on honeybees. We are doing this in five different countries; to show the efficacy of how we control the varroa mite — the deadly parasite that is killing the honeybees throughout the world,” said Lee Rosen, chairman and chief executive officer, Healthy Bees LLC. “We clearly show how we control the varroa mites, while we simultaneously feed the honeybees and strengthen their immune systems.”
According to Rosen, field trials conducted in California by the Bee Informed Partnership (BIP) concluded that BeesVita Plus is significantly more effective; as much as 45%, at controlling varroa mites than commonly-used formic acid strips.
Dr. Dennis van Engelsdorp, a University of Maryland assistant professor of entomology and BIP president, is the lead investigator of the varroa mite field trials. BIP is a consortium of America’s top university honeybee scientists.
“We did a trial with a product (BeesVita Plus) and it showed promise as a varroa mite-control product. In fact, it reduced mites by a measurable level, and that’s very exciting. I have to admit I was surprised because I’ve tested a lot of these other promising products and not seen those results,” van Engelsdorp said.
Varroa mites latch onto the bodies of bees and suck the life-force out of newborns and drones. Mites also spread viruses, which, among other things, cause birth defects, such as bees born without wings.
In lab tests conducted by the USDA Honeybee Laboratory in Beltsville, Md., a group of bees fed BeesVita Plus that were exposed to the insecticide paraquat tolerated and detoxified the deadly chemical better than bees fed sugar-water solution. This is what most beekeepers feed their hives, especially during winter when there is a lack of natural nectar and pollen-plants.
USDA also concluded that BeesVita Plus is a potent formulation that contains 38 times more antioxidants than other bee feeds. Therefore, it improves honeybee health and tolerance to certain pesticides and diseases. \\
“These are impressive results,” said Dr. Jeffrey Brown, director general of the American Academy of Entomological Sciences. He has started working with beekeepers to improve honeybee health at off-campus hives near Mississippi State University.
After reviewing the USDA reports, Brown concludes,“BeesVita Plus can bolster the immune system of the honeybees that allows them to resist disease, environmental elements and possibly pesticides, which may all contribute to colony loss.”
You May Also Like