This investment will establish the commercial feasibility of developing probiotic feeds for bees based on native bee gut bacteria. Bees in hives infected with chalkbrood display decreased levels of gut bacteria, including some strains that exhibit anti-fungal activity. Preliminary studies have shown that bees in hives previously infected with chalkbrood recover more rapidly when provided with supplemental feeding (sucrose) and further improvements are gained when a chalkbrood inhibiting antifungal agent is added. This investment will identify bacterial isolates with antifungal properties from healthy bees and will test their efficacy in probiotic feeding experiments.

Please see PRJ-012214 -Improving chalkbrood disease protection honey bee colonies probiotics prebioics