The gut microbiome differs between hygiene-performing and non-hygiene-performing worker honey bees

being exclusively present in hygiene performer bees and absent in non-hygiene performer bees. These findings reveal an association between gut microbiota composition and hygienic behavior in honey bees, which may provide a foundation for future research exploring probiotic development and other strategies to enhance honey bee health. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00040-025-01029-x.