UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY

The gut of the Western honeybee, Apis mellifera, harbours a compact and highly conserved bacterial community that performs functions extending well beyond digestion. Core symbionts such as Snodgrassella alvi, Gilliamella apicola, Bombilactobacillus and Lactobacillus Firm-5 clusters, and Bifidobacterium asteroides produce organic acids, bacteriocins, exopolysaccharides and other metabolites that suppress bee pathogens and stimulate host antimicrobial peptide expression. These properties place the bee gut microbiota within a broader category of naturally occurring antimicrobial systems, and they have prompted growing interest in whether such organisms, or the hive products they help create, might offer practical value for human health in an era of accelerating antimicrobial resistance. This review draws together evidence on the composition and antimicrobial functioning of the A. mellifera gut microbiota, the mechanisms by which resident lactic acid bacteria and associated taxa restrict honeybee pathogens, and the translational evidence linking honeybee-derived bacteria, honey, propolis and bee bread to inhibition of clinically relevant human pathogens including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and multidrug-resistant Gram-negative organisms. Particular attention is given to candidate probiotic strains such as Apilactobacillus kunkeei and honey-associated lactic acid bacteria that have shown gastrointestinal stress tolerance and antagonism toward wound pathogens in preliminary human-relevant assays. Environmental stressors, notably agrochemical exposure and veterinary antibiotic use in apiculture, are examined as drivers of gut dysbiosis that compromise these protective functions and that may themselves contribute to the spread of resistance determinants. The review closes by outlining research priorities, including standardised strain characterisation, controlled human and preclinical trials, and regulatory pathways, that would be required before honeybee gut-derived probiotics could be considered a genuine adjunct or alternative to conventional antimicrobials.