Hi all
The report reflects serious bias in a number of areas. They state

1 Any beneficial effect from this microbiota may be undermined where prophylactic use of antibiotics is practiced (e.g. USA) or where their natural foodstuffs, honey and pollen, are supplemented by the beekeeper with synthetic sugars and pollen substitutes lacking LAB or their beneficial substances. 

Comment: You hear this over and over. Antibiotics "may" affect microbiota. There is a mountain of evidence that antibiotics do not cause short term or long term harm, under most circumstances. Just the opposite is true: they have had an immense positive impact on the health of humans and livestock

2 Altered beekeeping husbandry practices that enhance LAB are needed, or direct manipulation by supplementary feeding of individual or composite LAB members and their products could help alleviate CCD. 

Comment: this entirely rests upon the acceptance of the assumption in point 1. If antibiotics are not harmful, then "altered husbandry practices" are not needed, though they may have benefit. Linking antibiotics, lactic acid and CCD seems absurd to me and is used to justify the continued research

3 Emphasis now needs to be given to discovering the mechanisms of action of LAB against pathogens and food spoiling microbes, and how they can be used to resolve ongoing honeybee colony losses, in which LAB may be the important missing link.

Comment: this is the real story. The authors are trying to make a case that LAB is the "important missing link". Everyone wants to make some such huge discovery that solves everybody's problems. They are quite prepared to profit from this discover since they hold patents on the products. Not only that, but initially they did not report this fact. A correction was amended as follows:

4 Information is missing from the Competing Interests statement. The full statement should read: "Alejandra Vasquez and Tobias Olofsson are the founders of and hold stocks in ConCellae AB, a biotech company that develops and markets functional food products, including honey-based products. Alejandra Vasquez and Tobias Olofsson are inventors and owners of a patent application related to the applications of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains isolated from honey. The study was not funded by ConCellae AB."

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