Long-term effects of antibiotic treatments on honeybee colony fitness: A modelling approach.

ABSTRACT: Gut microbiome disequilibrium is increasingly implicated in host fitness reductions, including for the economically important and disease-challenged western honey bee Apis mellifera. In laboratory experiments, the antibiotic tetracycline, which is used to prevent American Foulbrood Disease in countries including the US, elevates honey bee mortality by disturbing the microbiome. It is unclear, however, how elevated individual mortality affects colony-level fitness.We used an agent-based model (BEEHAVE) and empirical data to assess colony-level effects of antibiotic-induced worker bee mortality, by measuring colony size. We investigated the relationship between the duration that the antibiotic-induced mortality probability is imposed for and colony size.We found that when simulating a

SUBMITTER: Bulson L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7839786 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature