Dr. Marla Spivak, Apiculture and Social Insect Professor at UMN, promotes a 4-Step Program to keep bees healthy.  These four steps include: 1) Knowledge - know the clinical symptoms of bee diseases and pests and their life cycle as they relate to honey bees, 2) Prevention - how can YOU, the beekeeper, take control in areas where you can thwart pest and disease transmission (i.e., replace combs, locate colonies in remote areas, feed bees well in times of dearth), 3) Prevention - what can BEES themselves do on their own to limit pest and disease transmission (use bees selected for resistant traits), and 4) Control - use chemical controls only as a last resort. For more about this program click here.