Page 10 - WCBM JAC 2020 Proceeding Book

The 8th WCBM Junior Academic Competition, November 7th, 2020

Figure 8. Honey Sugar Levels after Culturing Strains 1-12

Strains a-e also diminished the sugar levels. However, all strains altered the honey by less than 2 brix. The
results show that crop bacteria do metabolize honey, but the extent to which honey was altered differs among
strains.

Figure 9. Honey Sugar Levels after Culturing Strains a-e

5) The effect of crop bacteria on A. mellifera survival and health.
10 A. mellifera individuals were housed in 12cm*6cm*4cm plastic containers. The containers each contained
folded cardboard to simulate hive structures, and a feeding dish that contained 2 sugar cubes(1cm*1cm*1cm).
Each group’s sugar cubes were treated with 20 ㎕ of strains b, c, 6 and their supernatants. One group was given
untreated cubes as the control. The survival rate of the 7 groups was monitored on a daily basis.
The control group was the first to completely die out. It was quickly followed by the group that was treated
with strain b. Most of the 7 groups died out before day 13. However, the groups that were treated with the
supernatants of strains c and 6 each survived 17 and 16 days. The two groups also decreased in population at a
slower rate than the others.
The results clearly show that crop bacteria play an important role in maintaining the honeybees’ health. All
groups that were treated with either the bacteria or their supernatants showed higher survival rates than the control
group. From the observation that the bees treated with the bacteria’s byproducts were healthier, it can be
concluded that the byproducts of crop bacteria are beneficial to A. mellifera.

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