* Work on the microorganisms in honey bee gut has been going on for many decades. It has to be one of the most studied topics. It is interesting to note that after forty years we are still trying to figure out chalkbrood, which is a microorganism found in the bee gut. One would guess that if it were a simple matter, it would have been sorted out long ago.
> In August, 1969, 30 foraging worker honey bees were obtained at the hive entrance of a colony maintained in the apiary at the Tucson Bee Research Laboratory. All the organisms we found in bees are ubiquitous in nature. It was surprising that we did not find a greater diversity of fungi in bees since bee food (honey) and the bee gut are high in sugar concentration.
JOURNAL OF INVERTEBRATE PATHOLOGY 20, 101-103 (1972)
* * *
> Tests of bees, brood, bee bread, and honey for antimycotic substances active against A. apis revealed that microorganisms, primarily molds, produced inhibitory substances. Most of these organisms were isolated from bee bread. The largest zones of inhibition were produced by Rhizopus sp. and unidentified Mucorales. These organisms may have been introduced by the bees.
JOURNAL OF INVERTEBRATE PATHOLOGY 52, 314-325 (1988)
* * *
> To fight chalkbrood, beekeepers can frequently re-queen their hives; that is, replace the reigning queen with a new one. Other tactics include discarding infected brood combs, keeping hives well-ventilated, and feeding sugar syrup and fresh pollen to keep bees well-nourished, strong, and healthy.
> “A natural organism that’s already known to occur in hives of healthy honey bees,” says Agricultural Research Service microbiologist Martha A. Gilliam, “should be easier than a synthetic chemical to register with the federal government as a biological control for chalkbrood.”
> Gilliam feeds chalkbrood-tainted “pollen patties” to the bees. Any microbes that assist these super-vulnerable bees may be equally useful -- if not more so -- to European honey bees elsewhere. Her tests include isolates of Mucor spinosus, Rhizopus arrhizus, an as-yet-unidentified Rhizopus, a Penicillium, and Aspergillus tamarii.
Agricultural Research Magazine August 1998 - Vol. 46, No. 8
* * *
> Natural compounds for control of chalkbrood fungus would be a welcome alternative to synthetic fungicides. A broad range of compounds have been tested in honey bee colonies and on A. apis in culture in an attempt to control chalkbrood. Numerous microbes associated with honey bees, such as certain Penicillum, Aspergillus, Bacillus species, showed inhibiting effects on growth of A. apis in culture (Gilliam et al., 1988a; Wood, 1998).
> A balance has evolved wherein both the fungus and the host survive. The practice of managed beekeeping perhaps upsets this natural host-pathogen balance because the survival and reproduction of the fungus and its host is no longer dependent on nature alone. Of course, natural balances are not necessarily compatible with economically-feasible beekeeping.
JOURNAL OF INVERTEBRATE PATHOLOGY 103 (2010) S20–S29
* * *
By the way, chalkbrood is also a severe problem with other managed bees, such as the alfalfa leaf cutter bee:
> The solitary bee Megachile rotundata (F.) (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) is the most extensively used alfalfa, Medicago sativa L., pollinator in North America (Peterson et al. 1992), but this bee is affected by a disease called chalkbrood that causes extensive mortality in managed populations of this bee. Incorporating certain fungicides into pollenĐ nectar provisions can reduce incidence of chalkbrood and increase the percentage of healthy bee progeny.
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY Vol. 101, no. 4 (2010)
Peter Loring Borst
Ithaca NY USA
peterloringborst.com
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