Newly-Discovered Bacterium Helps Honey Bee Larvae

May 6, 2015 by Entomology Today

Honey bees are under constant pressure from a whole host of stresses — diseases, poor nutrition, sublethal effects of pesticides, and many others. While researchers have been aware for a number of years of a community of bacteria in adult bees that may aid with some of these stresses, researchers have now identified bacteria that help honey bee larvae.

Molecular biologist Vanessa Corby-Harris and microbial ecologist Kirk E. Anderson at the USDA-ARS Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, Arizona, have named a new species of bacteria — Parasaccharibacter apium. An Acetobacteraceae so far found only in honey bees and their hives, it appears to give honey bee larvae a significantly better chance of surviving to become pupae...