Honey bees avoid nectar colonized by three bacterial species, but not by a yeast species, isolated from the bee gut.

ABSTRACT: The gut microflora of the honey bee, Apis mellifera, is receiving increasing attention as a potential determinant of the bees' health and their efficacy as pollinators. Studies have focused primarily on the microbial taxa that appear numerically dominant in the bee gut, with the assumption that the dominant status suggests their potential importance to the bees' health. However, numerically minor taxa might also influence the bees' efficacy as pollinators, particularly if they are not only present in the gut, but also capable of growing in floral nectar and altering its chemical properties. Nonetheless, it is not well understood whether honey bees have any feeding preference for or against nectar colonized by specific microbial species. To test whether bees exhibit a preference, we conduct

SUBMITTER: Good AP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3899272 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature