The Native Dietary Habits of the Two Sympatric Bee Species and Their Effects on Shaping Midgut Microorganisms

The intestinal microbial community composition of different bee species typically has host specificity, yet little is known about the underlying formation mechanism. There are signs that dietary habits vary in different bee species, suggesting that there may be close relationships between dietary habits and intestinal microorganisms. We explored this hypothesis by comparing the dietary habits and gut microbiota of two common bee species (Apis mellifera L. and Apis cerana cerana) in China. Bee bread and midgut samples from wild and laboratory-reared bees were collected, and the differences in intestinal microbial community composition and growth and development before and after the change in dietary habits of different bee species were compared. We found that the two sympatric species had different dietary specializations and similar metagenomic diversities. The microbiota composition differed between the two species. Moreover, we revealed that changes in native dietary habits destroyed the intestinal microbiota community composition, negatively affecting the growth and development of honeybees.