The Microbes Found in the Honey of New York City Beehives

Abstract

Bees are incredibly important to the Earths ecosystem and provide humans with a variety of fruits and vegetables; however, due to Colony Collapse Disorder, hives are dying at an alarming rate. Colony Collapse Disorder is caused by a number of factors such as pesticides and bacteria that kill the bees. With the increase of urban beekeeping created in an effort to replenish the bee population, little is known about the microbes the bees are interacting with in New York City. This research looked at what microbes the bees came in contact with to use as a resource in identifying the differences between the neighborhoods. Two methods were used to extract the DNA, one looking at gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and the other looking at only gram-positive. The samples were taken from around New York City, Westchester County and Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania sample was collected from a container of honey bought from Trader Joes. The reason both urban and rural samples were used was to see if there is an obvious difference in the microbes found between them.