Bee pollen stores hold hidden microbes shaped by habitat diversity
Llaja JC, Oyola JE, Carrion JV, Chuquizuta F, Calderon MS, Bustamante DE.
Pollinators
The wildflower patches and diverse plantings in your yard aren't just feeding bees directly, they're feeding the invisible microbial community inside beehives that breaks down pollen into nutrients bees actually need.
Bees store pollen in their hives like a pantry, and that pantry is teeming with bacteria and fungi that help turn raw pollen into digestible bee food. Researchers looked at bee hives across six different Amazon habitats and found the specific microbes varied a lot from place to place, but they all did the same essential jobs, like breaking down nutrients. The exception was a swampy palm-dominated habitat with fewer flower types, where the microbial community was noticeably less diverse, hinting that when bees have fewer plant options, their hive's hidden helpers suffer too.
Key Findings
First comprehensive metabarcoding study (16S rRNA and ITS2) of bacterial and fungal communities in honeybee pollen reserves across six Amazonas ecosystems in Peru
Ecosystem type was the primary driver of microbial community structure, with bacteria and fungi (dominated by Lactobacillus and an unclassified Tremellomycetes fungus) responding differently to environmental conditions
The Palm Swamp ecosystem, which has lower floral diversity, showed significantly reduced microbial diversity compared to other habitats, despite functional roles like nutrient metabolism remaining stable across sites
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists discovered that honeybee pollen stores in the Peruvian Amazon host complex communities of bacteria and fungi that shift depending on the surrounding ecosystem, and that simplified habitats like palm swamps reduce this microbial diversity, which could weaken bee nutrition and hive health.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Hidden Microbiota Inhabiting in Pollen Reserves of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) From Amazonas Region Revealed by DNA Metabarcoding.
Pollen functions as a dynamic microbial habitat and the microbes living in pollen reserves play vital roles in pollinator health and nutrition. However, the microbiota composition of honeybee polle...
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