Early life exposure to the antibiotic tetracycline alters in‐hive development of the adult honey bee gut microbiome

Early life events, including disturbances, can shape host‐associated bacterial community structure and function. We sought to determine whether exposure to tetracycline, an antibiotic commonly used in beekeeping, during early gut microbiome development in hives affects honey bee gut microbiota later in life. Newly emerged bees were collected off brood frames from eight hives, treated with tetracycline or sucrose (control), and returned to their hive of origin. Bees were recollected 7 ( N = 8 hives) and 14 ( N = 3 hives) days after emergence, guts were dissected, and gut communities were characterized using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. For the hives sampled at both time points, a 16S quantitative PCR assay was used to estimate total bacterial abundance. Seven days after emergence, gut communities of tetracycline‐treated bees differed from controls based on relative abundance and presence/absence of taxa and had lower phylogenetic diversity and richness than controls. According to our differential abundance analysis, Lactobacillus , which is part of the core honey bee gut microbiome, was differentially abundant, with a reduced relative abundance in the antibiotic‐exposed communities compared to controls. Our results suggest that disturbances that occur in early adulthood shape the honey bee gut microbiome throughout life.