> I always thought that the nurse bees give a complete set of beneficial bacteria to the brood and that they don't need probiotics

Hi 
This project does not bring in new bacteria but aims at boosting the natural gut flora. They write


> Parasaccharibacter apium, gen. nov., sp. nov., is a hive bacterium found in food stores and in larvae, worker jelly, worker hypopharyngeal glands, and queens. Parasaccharibacter apium increases larval survival under laboratory conditions.

The data presented here suggest a
possible benefit of P. apium, and provide an interesting contrast to
other studies of probiotics and honey bee health. We stress that no
matter the bacteria in question, each candidate should be 1) naturally
found in hives, 2) distributed throughout the hive, 3) easily administered
to the hive, and 4) beneficial to the bees. If this is not the
case, the candidate may have no effect or even a negative effect on
hive health. Parasaccharibacter apium fits the above criteria

V. Corby-Harris, et al. 2016

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