We next investigated the bacterial isolates obtained in this
study to evaluate their antagonistic potentials on P. larvae, the causal
agent of AFB. Seven of 35 isolates showed significant inhibitory
effects against P. larvae in in vitro inhibition assays. Four isolates
belonging to Bacillus spp. showed a high inhibitory effect on the
growth of P. larvae, which is in agreement with results reported
for A. mellifera (Evans and Armstrong, 2006; Alippi and Reynaldi,
2006). Therefore, the results of the present study suggest that distinct
honeybee species possess common representatives of the antagonistic bacteria that may be potential candidates for the control
of AFB