Evolution and Antibiotic Resistance

Evolution and Antibiotic Resistance

Theresa Breeden

W2 A1

South University Online

Ouch, that hurt! At some time and point each one of us has stepped on a bee and gotten stung. Well did you know that those little honey bees are a good thing, yes, they are good at making that sweet sticky stuff known as honey, but that is not the only thing they are good at. The bees are also good because "the stomachs of the wild honey bees are full of healthy lactic acid bacteria that can fight bacterial infections in both bees and humans" (NewsRx Health, Apr. 1, 2012).

Over the past 80 million years, the bees use the bacteria to produce and protect the honey and bee pollen that is used to feed the colony. Also two of the most dangerous bacterial diseases that affect the honey bees can be dissolved by the healthy lactic acid bacteria. So, those little bees are bigger than we ever thought they were. When they are newborns the adults feed them and that is how the bees get the healthy bacteria in their stomachs. Not only is there the healthy bacteria's, "there are also large quantities of harmful microorganisms such as bacteria, yeasts and fungi that are found in the nectar and pollen from flowers that the bees collect" (NewsRx Health, Apr. 1, 2012). However, these microorganisms can destroy the food by fermentation in just a few hours, but with the healthy lactic acid bacteria in the honey stomach can kill off the microorganisms.

As we all know honey tastes good and is good to add to hot tea, or a warm biscuit, but there are more things that honey is good for. Take for instance; you have a persistent cough, a sore throat, a cold or even a wound. Yes, a wound. According to Alejandra Vasquez in the NewsRx Health article states, "our hypothesis is that the healthy bee bacteria can also kill harmful disease bacteria in humans. We have preliminary, unpublished results which show that this could be a new tool to complement or even replace antibiotics" (Apr. 1, 2012).

North Carolina State University shows that honey bees "self-medicate" when their colony is infected with harmful fungus by bringing in increased amounts of antifungal plant resin to ward off the pathogens. This "plant resin" is called propolis. Propolis is a mixture of plant resin and wax that contains antifungal and antibacterial properties (ScienceDaily Mar. 30, 2012). The wild bees line their colonies with the propolis, where the domesticated bees use the propolis to fill in cracks in the hive. However when faced with a fungal threat the wild bees bring in 45% more propolis and will remove the infected larvae (ScienceDaily Mar. 30, 2012).

In my research I have developed my own hypothesis of the honey bee. Yes, the honey bee may sting and produce honey for humans to consume, however the honey bee is an important