Probiotics can help protect honeybees from nosemosis, an infection which is partially responsible for Colony Collapse Disorder.
Nosemosis is often treated by giving bees antibiotics, which are mixed into a sugar syrup that is then fed to the bees. However, consumer concern over antibiotic residues in honey and the emergence of antibiotic resistance is leading beekeepers and scientists to look for other options.
Researchers at l’Université Laval fed caged bees four types of probiotics in sugar syrup. Two commercial probiotics, Bactocell and Levucell, are used in agriculture (pork and chicken farms) and/or aquaculture (shrimp and salmon farms). The other two probiotics were isolated from the intestines of healthy bees. The scientists found that probiotics could reduce the mortality rate by 20 to 40 per cent.
The probiotics from the bee microbiome (gut microorganisms) were the most effective but all the probiotics reduced the impact of the nosemosis. In the experiment, the bees were confined with infected bees and the probiotics did not appear to reduce the infection rate but instead improved tolerance to the disease.
— Janet Wallace
Source: Sarah El Khoury, Andrée Rousseau, Alexandre Lecoeur et al. Deleterious Interaction Between Honeybees (Apis mellifera) and its Microsporidian Intracellular Parasite Nosema ceranae Was Mitigated by Administrating Either Endogenous or Allochthonous Gut Microbiota Strains. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 23 May 2018