Can bees help us find new antibiotics?

Antibiotics are very important for treating bacterial infections in humans, pets, and livestock. However, improper use of antibiotics has resulted in antibiotic resistance, making it difficult to treat some infections. There is an urgent need to discover new antibiotics, but how do we find them? The answer potentially lies with bees and the honey they produce. Bees who feed on unique plants produce honey with high levels of antibiotic activity, due to the presence of antibacterial compounds in the nectar that the bees collect to make honey. In addition to nectar, the bees also collect pollen, which contains a sample of each visited plant’s unique DNA. By studying this DNA, we have identified plants that are sources of the antibacterial compounds found in honey. We are now working to develop new antibiotics from this honey, and we have installed beehives on university buildings to create our own super honey