"Waves of highly infectious viruses sweeping through global honey bee populations have contributed
to recent declines in honey bee health. Bees have been observed foraging on mushroom mycelium,
suggesting that they may be deriving medicinal or nutritional value from fungi. Fungi are known to
produce a wide array of chemicals with antimicrobial activity, including compounds active against
bacteria, other fungi, or viruses. We tested extracts from the mycelium of multiple polypore fungal
species known to have antiviral properties. Extracts from amadou (Fomes) and reishi (Ganoderma)
fungi reduced the levels of honey bee deformed wing virus (DWV) and Lake Sinai virus (LSV) in a dosedependent manner. In field trials, colonies fed Ganoderma resinaceum extract exhibited a 79-fold
reduction in DWV and a 45,000-fold reduction in LSV compared to control colonies. These findings
indicate honey bees may gain health benefits from fungi and their antimicrobial compounds."
See full study in the files on the right of this blog
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