THE IMPORTANCE OF MICROBES IN NUTRITION AND HEALTH OF HONEY BEE COLONIES

摘要

In the first two parts of this series, we discussed how microbes (bacteria and fungi) contribute to the health of honey bee colonies (Figure 1). The microbes aid in food processing and digestion and reduce the growth of pathogens. In the second part of the series, we discussed factors such as antibiotics and pesticides that could compromise the growth and diversity of a colony's microbial community and possibly impact the colony's health. What part-1 and 2 have in common are that they were long on speculation and short on actual information from scientific studies conducted on honey bees. In reality, there is little known about the beneficial microbes in honey bees and bee bread (i.e., stored pollen that has undergone fermentation). What is known islargely from studies conducted several decades ago. Modern molecular and microbiological techniques can provide more complete information on the diversity of bacteria and fungi. However, these techniques have not been applied to describe the microbes that are present in healthy honey bee colonies. In the third part of this series, we will discuss studies that are needed to better understand the contributions of microbes to the health of honey bee colonies. We will be conducting many of these studies with our colleagues to determine which microbes are present in healthy hives. We also will examine the impact of contaminants in pollen, antibiotic treatments and supplemental feeding on the growth and diversity of microbes and the effects on colony health and survival.