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The world's first vaccine for honeybees has been approved for use in the US.

It's to help protect the insects from a contagious disease called American foulbrood, which can weaken and destroy hives.

It is one of the most widespread and destructive honey bee diseases and has been found to be present in a quarter of colonies in some parts of the country.

Experts hope that the vaccine could provide a new way of protecting the insects, which are so important in pollinating plants that create the food that we eat.

A third of the world's food production depends on bees.

Bees help to provide a lot of the food we eat by flying around and pollinating crops such as apples, beans, tomatoes, strawberries and courgettes.

Bees are vital for maintaining the balance between living organisms - such as human beings, plants, and animals - and the environment.

They also help reduce pollution.

But they are under threat, facing growing challenges from things such as climate change, habitat loss and diseases.

The vaccine has been called a breakthrough in the search for a way to protect honeybees from American foulbrood disease, which currently has no cure.

The vaccine works by adding a special version of the bacteria into the royal jelly which doesn't harm the bees.

The jelly is fed by worker bees to the queen, which then eats it and gets protection against the disease.

The queen bee is then able to pass on the protection to any new bee larvae she produces - protecting the future population in the hive.

The company behind the new vaccine say that the method could be used to find vaccines for other bee-related diseases.