Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Developing Strategies to Help Bee Colony Resilience in Changing Environments

This review identified strategies for improving bee colony resilience under multiple stressors including climate change, pathogen pressure, and pesticide exposure, with a focus on the links between nutrition, gut microbiota, and immune and stress response systems. The authors highlight dietary diversity and microbiome support as practical levers for maintaining colony health.

2022 Animals 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbiota and Its Importance in Honey Bees

This review examines the role of microbiota in honey bee health, finding that gut microbiome composition is critical for metabolism, immune function, and protection against pathogens, with environmental stressors including pollution threatening bee microbiome stability.

2021 Bee Studies- Apiculture Research Institute 7 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

A systematic review of honey bee (Apis mellifera, Linnaeus, 1758) infections and available treatment options

This systematic review catalogued the major pathogens threatening honey bee colonies worldwide, including Varroa mites, Nosema fungi, and several viruses, along with current treatment options. The authors call for a global monitoring system to track parasite prevalence and protect pollinator health.

2023 Veterinary Medicine and Science 19 citations
Article Tier 2

How Environmental and Ecological Stressors Reprogram Honey Bee Chemistry Through the Microbiome–Metabolome Axis

Researchers reviewed how major environmental stressors — including pesticides, pathogens, nutritional imbalance, and contaminants — disrupt the honey bee gut microbiome-metabolome axis, finding recurring patterns of functional dysbiosis such as impaired energy metabolism and weakened immune regulation that can scale up to threaten colony resilience.

2026 Insects
Article Tier 2

Influence of Age of Infection on the Gut Microbiota in Worker Honey Bees (Apis mellifera iberiensis) Experimentally Infected with Nosema ceranae

Researchers studied how infection with the gut parasite Nosema ceranae affects the microbiome of honey bees at different ages. The study found that infected bees, especially those infected shortly after emerging, showed significant shifts in their gut bacteria populations, suggesting that both age and infection timing play important roles in how bee gut health is disrupted.

2024 Microorganisms 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Gut microbiota analysis of the western honeybee ( Apis mellifera L.) infested with the mite Varroa destructor reveals altered bacterial and archaeal community

Researchers used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to characterize bacterial and archaeal gut communities in adult honeybees (Apis mellifera) and larvae from Varroa destructor-infested hives, comparing healthy and mite-affected groups. They found Bombella dominated larval microbiota while Gillamella, Lactobacillaceae, and Snodgrassella dominated adults, though healthy and Varroa-affected adult groups did not differ statistically, and larvae showed enrichment of genes involved in cofactor and vitamin biosynthesis.

2022
Article Tier 2

Tetracycline exposure alters key gut microbiota in Africanized honey bees ( Apis mellifera scutellata x spp.)

Researchers found that exposure to tetracycline antibiotics significantly altered gut bacteria communities in Africanized honey bees, disrupting their microbiome health. Since bees can be exposed to antibiotics through agricultural practices, the findings raise concern about antibiotic impacts on pollinator health.

2021
Article Tier 2

Combined transcriptome and metabolite profiling analyses provide insights into the chronic toxicity of carbaryl and acetamiprid to Apis mellifera larvae

Researchers exposed honeybee larvae to low, non-lethal doses of two common insecticides — carbaryl and acetamiprid — and found distinct disruptions in gene activity and metabolism, including effects on antioxidant defenses and amino acid processing. These findings reveal that even "safe" pesticide levels can cause subtle but meaningful biological harm to developing bees, which are essential for pollinating crops.

2022 Scientific Reports 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Aspergillus-bees: A dynamic symbiotic association

This review examined the dynamic relationship between Aspergillus fungi and bees, documenting over 30 Aspergillus species isolated from managed and wild bees and exploring how environmental stressors may shift this association from commensal to pathogenic.

2022 Frontiers in Microbiology 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined transcriptome and metabolite profiling analyses provide insights into the chronic toxicity of carbaryl and acetamiprid to Apis mellifera larvae

Researchers exposed honeybee larvae in vitro to no-observed-adverse-effect concentrations of the insecticides carbaryl and acetamiprid and used combined transcriptome and metabolite profiling to reveal that carbaryl disrupted oxidative stress responses and amino acid metabolism, while acetamiprid altered different metabolic pathways.

2022 Research Square (Research Square) 1 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Bees and Microplastic Studies: A Systematic Review

This systematic review of 33 studies found that microplastic research involving bees is still in its early stages, with evidence suggesting microplastics can alter bee gut microbiota and impair immune function. Given that compromised bee health threatens pollination services and broader ecosystem stability, the review calls for more primary studies on this understudied topic.

2025 Neotropical Entomology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Biodiversity and Challenges of Honey Bee Population in Pakistan

This review examines the biodiversity and ecological challenges facing honey bee populations in Pakistan, covering threats from habitat loss, pesticide use, disease, and climate change. The authors assess the status of native bee species and managed colonies and discuss implications for agricultural pollination services and food security in the region.

2024 Science Letters 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of nano-polystyrene on cyfluthrin toxicity in honeybee Apis cerana cerana Fabricius

Researchers found that nano-polystyrene plastics damaged the gut and gland development of Asian honeybees, while also changing how the bees process toxins at the genetic level. When combined with the pesticide cyfluthrin, the nanoplastics altered detoxification and immune gene activity in complex ways. Since honeybees are essential pollinators for food crops, the toxic effects of nanoplastics on bee health could have indirect consequences for human food security.

2025 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Emerging threats and opportunities to managed bee species in European agricultural systems: a horizon scan

Researchers and European experts identified 21 emerging threats and opportunities for managed bees used in agriculture, spanning pesticide exposure, climate stress, new parasites, and trade policies, highlighting that protecting pollination services requires coordinated action across local, national, and continental scales.

2023 Scientific Reports 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Insights into the Role of Natural Products in the Control of the Honey Bee Gut Parasite (Nosema spp.)

This review examined the potential of natural products including plant extracts, essential oils, and organic acids as alternatives to pharmaceutical treatments against the honey bee gut parasite Nosema spp. Several natural compounds showed anti-Nosema activity in laboratory studies, but field efficacy and safe application protocols remain incompletely characterized.

2022 Animals 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Cross-Species Comparisons of Nanoparticle Interactions with Innate Immune Systems: A Methodological Review

This methodological review compares nanoparticle interactions with innate immune systems across species from plants to humans, identifying conserved immune pathways that can serve as cross-species models for evaluating nanoparticle and nanoplastic toxicity.

2021 Nanomaterials 21 citations
Article Tier 2

The Role of Beekeeping in the Generation of Goods and Services: The Interrelation between Environmental, Socioeconomic, and Sociocultural Utilities

This review examines the diverse ecosystem goods and services generated by beekeeping, including pollination, honey production, and cultural benefits, while documenting growing threats to bee populations from pesticides, habitat loss, and emerging pathogens. The authors argue that beekeeping supports biodiversity and food security in ways that are systematically undervalued in economic and environmental assessments.

2022 Agriculture 69 citations
Article Tier 2

Anatomically-specific coupling between innate immune gene repertoire and microbiome structure during coral evolution

This study found that different coral species have distinct coupling between their immune gene repertoires and microbiome composition, suggesting evolutionary specialization of host-microbe relationships. Coral microbiomes are being disrupted by plastic pollution, making understanding baseline coral immunity relevant to assessing plastic pollution impacts on reef health.

2023 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Gut microbiota protects honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) against polystyrene microplastics exposure risks

Researchers found that honey bees with intact gut microbiota were significantly more resilient to polystyrene microplastic exposure than bees with disrupted gut communities. The gut microbiota helped reduce oxidative stress and maintained immune function in bees exposed to microplastics. The study suggests that a healthy gut microbiome may serve as a natural defense mechanism against the harmful effects of microplastic ingestion in pollinators.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 203 citations
Article Tier 2

Nano- and micro-polystyrene plastics disturb gut microbiota and intestinal immune system in honeybee.

Honeybees orally exposed to polystyrene micro- and nanoplastics showed disrupted gut microbiota and impaired intestinal immune function, with nanoplastics causing greater effects than microplastics. Since honeybees are critical pollinators for food production, microplastic contamination in their environment could affect both bee health and agricultural systems.

2022 The Science of the total environment