Page 11 - WCBM JAC 2020 Proceeding Book

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

Figure 10. Survival Curves of Treated Honeybees

6) 16s rRNA sequencing of crop bacteria.
Strains 6,7 were streaked on NA plates and b, c, e on MRS plates. The plates were sent to Macrogen. Inc for
16s rRNA partial sequencing. The result sequences were used to identify the species with BLAST.
All strains except strain 7 were identified as Enterococcus avium. E. avium is a species normally identified in
birds. It was once documented to synthesize an antibiotic bacteriocin in the digestive system of honeybee larvae.
Strain 7 was identified as Burkholderia gladioli pv. gladioli, a species that is found in the roots of some plants.

7) The Economic Impact of E. avium as a Probiotic Honey Bee Supplement.
From the results of the bee survival experiment (Fig 12), a trend line was able to be estimated for the bees’
survival curves. The most effective treatment was the supernatant of Strain c. Further sequencing revealed it to
be the supernatant of E. avium incubated in MRS. It can thus be inferred that the supernatant will serve as an
effective supplement for honeybees.
The effectiveness of the treatment was analyzed with the trend lines of the survival curves. Calculating the
mean life span of 10 samples in the control group, it was estimated to be 8.5 days. The samples treated with the
supernatant of Strain c showed a much higher survival rate, with an average of 12 days of longevity.
The data suggests that a supplement derived from E. avium will elongate the life span of honey bees by a factor
2
of 1.411. Once implemented to the entire U.S apiculture industry, it can be concluded that the total population
will increase by 1.411.

2 Expected Expansion of Honeybee Life Span (EEHLS)=12/8.5= 1.411

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