Below are some of the papers I researched, but not an exhaustive list of my research. I will admit that my research was not limited to bees, but also mammals. My focus was not on the host organism, but the biology of the bacteria and microorganisms, and the environments they thrive in.

No matter where you go, when you discuss health gut, you will find research that both supports and condemns the use of both antibiotics and probiotics. In humans, antibiotics have made a substantial impact on our ability to survive injuries.

Facts as we understand them:

• Varroa Mites are a major factor in winter losses.
• Varroa mites introduce bacteria and viruses into the hive
• Bee gut microbes and bacteria evolve/change in a bee’s gut through the year.
• Antibiotics are an effective treatment for bacteria, but antibiotics also damage the good gut bacteria.
• Feeding pre and probiotics can restore the bee’s gut health. 
• Pollen can restore a bee’s gut health. 

This is the part that I am currently testing, and focused on.

Varroa mites create an injury that can become infected by bacteria and viruses. There is substantial evidence that the extensive winter mortality is directly or indirectly caused by varroa destructor.

My hypothesis: Can adding an antibiotic reduce the deaths caused by bacterial infections, and can probiotics mitigate the gut damage done by the antibiotics.

When reading research papers you can learn a lot more than you can reading anything else, because you have a snapshot view of a ‘canned’ experiment. What you need to realize is that research papers are very singular.

A paper may state that antibiotics damage gut health, a claim that has been proven across multiple species. What they do not say is that death from an infected wound has a 100% mortality rate, depending on the bacteria, and that antibiotics provide an XX% survival rate.  

What you gain from research is a snapshot that tests a specific theory, instead of someone’s views which may be tainted by their own perceptions, experiences, and beliefs.

Our anecdotal evidence is that we saw:

• 50% increase in winter survival rate when we treated with antibiotics spring and fall. Our survival rate on singles increased from about 50% to 80+%, two years in a row.
• Feeding probiotics from April to July, increased brood production. We saw honey production increase. The number of splits we could made increased from 50% to 300+%
• When we used antibiotics but did not feed probiotics, we saw a 40% reduction in nucs/splits made after July. There was no difference in singles we overwintered.

Other factors that might have influenced the results:

1. We eliminated all of our frames and comb older than two years.
2. We started using an InstaVap, and treated more often, especially in the fall.
3. We changed from a predominantly carni population to a predominantly Buckfast population.
4. We started raising our own queens.
5. We started to use UltraBee, Hive Alive, and superDFM, in an attempt to improve bee gut health.
6. We also use previously frozen, but non irradiated, pollen to help rebuild the bee’s gut health.

We believe that #1, #2, #3, and #4 were not strong factors, because these practices were used by a vast majority of beekeepers, with no measurable benefits.

At this time, we are working to improve bee gut health recipes for bee probiotics are not distributed publicly.

If you would like to watch videos that demonstrate this concept better than I can, please view Inside the Hive TV.  Science of non-native probiotics in honey bee health – Part 03

Studying bees can be difficult. The bee, and the hive are both a singular biological entity.  As such, something that may benefit a single bee may not benefit the entire hive, and vice verse.

As we go into spring 2025, we are going to try and duplicate our results across our 5 different bee yards, each one with a slightly different feeding and treatment protocol. The only thing that we will be doing universally is treating more often with oxalic acid vapour. Our results, and our peers’ results.

Below I attached a small sample of the documents which I have researched. I will warn you, that you can spend months going down this rabbit hole. On the other hand, if it can increase your bee’s survival and reproductive rates by even 20%, at $250 a nuc, then the time invested is more than worth it.

How to Research

When doing research you need to have a goal. Is it to reduce disease, improve reproductivity, improve bee lifespan or productivity? Do not pick too many or your data will be useless. 

Keep data. Weigh your hives. Track bees. Count brood. etc. Track everything. You don’t know what section of data has the secret to your success. 

The more consistent your experiment, the more you can trust your data. 

Do not be too single minded. Try different things, in different hives. 

use the largest test population that you can. Always have hives that do not receive any of the supplements or treatments.