Question at position 39 One of your neighbours plans to use antibiotic compounds to fight a bacterial disease that blemishes the leaves of her rose bush, and then eventually kills the whole plant. Knowing that you are taking a Bee course at CU, she asks you how this might affect honey bees in her area. You should tell her… The bees might be hurt by the antibiotics compounds because those may kill bacteria that are part of their gut microbiome.The antibiotic compounds will likely help the bees because they will kill bacteria that are harmful to rose bushes AND bees. Some of the bees will be hurt by the antibiotic compounds because bees have been shown to have allergies to themThe bees will be fine ; they belong to the Kingdom Animalia, and NOT to the Bacteria kingdom, and therefore will be unaffected by the treatment

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Consider the scenario: an antibiotic treatment aimed at a plant disease might have unintended consequences for nearby honey bees. 
Option 1: 'The bees might be hurt by the antibiotics compounds because those may kill bacteria that are part of their gut microbiome.' This is a scientifically solid concern, because bees host a community of gut bacteria that aid digestion, nutrient absorption, and immune function; broad-spectrum antibiotics can disrupt this microbiome, potentially harming bee health. 
Option 2: 'The antibiotic compounds will likely help the bees because they will kill bacteria that are harmful to rose bushes AND bees.' This is misleading. While antibiotics target bacteria, they are not selective to plant pathogens and can also disrupt beneficial microbes in bees; moreover, harming beneficial bacteria could negatively impact bees rather than help them. 
Option 3: 'Some of the bees will be hurt by the antibiotic compounds because bees have been shown to have allergies to them.' While allergic reactions are possible in any species, there is no strong general support that bees commonly have allergic reactions to standard antibiotics; the bigger and more general risk is disruption of the gut microbiome rather than allergy. 
Option 4: 'The bees will be fine; they belong to the Kingdom Animalia, and NOT to the Bacteria kingdom, and therefore will be unaffected by the treatment.' This is a fallacy of ignoring ecological and microbiome interactions: even though bees are animals, antibiotics can affect bacterial communities associated with bees and their environment, which can influence bee health. 
In summary, the most robust and widely supported concern is that antibiotic exposure can disrupt the bees’ gut microbiome, leading to potential health problems, making Option 1 the strongest choice. The other options rely on misconceptions about selectivity, rare allergy considerations, or ignoring microbiome-associated risks.

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