American Foulbrood and the Risk in the Use of Antibiotics as a Treatment

Abstract

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) crucially pollinate agricultural crops and endemic species, in addition to producing various apiculture products. The most economically relevant and abundant beehive product is honey, a sweet substance made from the secretions of melliferous plants. Honey is a natural food rich in nutrients, including certain bioactive compounds inherited from floral nectar and pollen. Among the most dangerous diseases for bees is American foulbrood. Spores of the causative microorganism, Paenibacillus larvae, can contaminate larvae food or the operculum wax in which larval stages of honeybees are kept. Infection is further promoted by common apiculture practices, such as reusing inert material contaminated with spores, even after months of storage. American foulbrood is untreatable, and management implicates completely incinerating the infected hive and all material that could have come into contact with pathogenic spores. The purpose of such drastic measures is to decrease propagation risk for other beehives. While evidence indicates that antibiotics could effectively control and combat this disease; antibiotic use is prohibited in most honey-producing countries due to increased risks to microbial resistance. Antibiotic residues in honey can affect consumer health, since the natural biological attributes of honey can be altered.