WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A company barely a year old is staking out new ground by offering a product to treat Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in honeybees.

The company, based in Florida, is called BeesFree. It was developed by a couple of beekeepers who are also scientists. Started in August 2011 as a publicly traded company, BeesFree is offering as its main product a liquid formulation called BeesVita Plus.

“They didn’t set out to invent this,” said interim CEO David Todhunter of company principals Francesca del Vecchio and Andrea Festuccia. “They are beekeepers and they lost some of their bees to CCD.”

Todhunter said the two Ph.D.s developed the formulation to deal with problems they were having with their own hives. He added the product is all natural, all organic and all on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Generally Recognized As Safe list.

According to information provided by the firm, in a three-year field study BeesVita Plus was introduced to specific honeybee colonies and had an increase as much as 50 percent. The non-treated colonies experienced a 40 percent decrease.

“This cocktail approach seemed to give the bees all they needed to improve their immune response and respond better to stress,” Todhunter said.

The manufacturer that makes the product is required to be licensed by the FDA. “The onus is on the manufacturer to make sure the product is safe,” he stated.

He added the founders of the company have been working on BeesVita Plus for the past three years. There is a similar U.S. company that’s been working on its own product, called Beeologics. Beeologics was recently acquired by Monsanto Co.

“Both companies are looking to improve the health of the worldwide honeybee population, but the process of the two companies is very different,” he stated.

Beeologics is developing a formula that has to be approved by the FDA; it is basically a drug, Todhunter said. Monsanto is also interested in what Beeologics has been doing with the development of a honeybee that could be resistant to CCD.

He said Monsanto has been getting a lot of flak from people who think biotechnology and pesticides are somehow responsible for the emergence of CCD and that it wants to “play both sides of things” in seeking a viable treatment for the CCD phenomenon. But he said, BeesVita Plus is not a drug and therefore does not need FDA approval.

BeesFree is also developing a proprietary feeding dispenser called Beespenser. It can feed up to 10 colonies of bees.

“It is a prototype; we hope to be rolling that out next year,” Todhunter said. “It’s probably more of a luxury for most beekeepers. There are beekeepers with thousands of colonies. It’s a labor-saving device.”

There are currently two studies examining the effectiveness of BeesVita Plus: one in Italy, the other in Argentina. Todhunter said the one in Italy should have a report out by the end of September. The one in Argentina should have a report in January 2013.

The Italian study is being conducted by the National Health Service, an arm of the Italian government. BeesFree is working with the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (NIAT) on the Argentine study. The NIAT is part of the national government.

Todhunter said he likes to work at companies “you can feel good about at the end of the day. I’ve been very excited to work here. The fourth quarter will be a big quarter for us. We think we’ll have quite a bit of ammunition to show off our company and any products.

“BeesFree is not looking to be acquired. We have over $1 million on order in the European Union. We believe that in the fourth quarter we will be shipping those orders and we believe we will be selling product in the U.S., too.”