antibiotics given to bees before there is a problem can cause a problem
Symbionts as Major Modulators of Insect Health: Lactic Acid Bacteria and Honeybees
Honeybees possess an abundant, diverse and ancient LAB microbiota in their honey crop with beneficial effects for bee health, defending them against microbial threats. Beekeeping management practices can negatively impact this microbiota. The crop microbiota of A. mellifera is composed of 13 bacterial species within the genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium , ,  and it plays a key role in the production of honey  and bee-bread , long term stored food for both adult honeybees and larvae. We have demonstrated by both in vitro and in vivo studies that the LAB microbiota in A. mellifera inhibit one important honeybee pathogen, the bacterial brood pathogen Paenibacillus larvae that is the cause of the brood disease American foulbrood (AFB)
To dumb it down – antibiotics given to bees before there is a problem can cause a problem!
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