*3.1.3 Antimicrobial peptides*

*Modern Beekeeping - Bases for Sustainable Production*

Oxytetracycline Forbidden Tylosin Forbidden Lincomycin Forbidden Streptomycin Forbidden Sulfonamides Forbidden Chloramphenicol Forbidden Nitrofurans Forbidden

*Maximum residual limits for antibiotics in the European Union.*

**Antibiotic Maximum residual limit**

tandem mass spectrometry [59].

**Table 1.**

pounds through direct injection [61].

dermatitis [65].

*3.1.2 Nuclear irradiation*

[59, 66].

cleaned by solid-phase extraction [58]. A more recent methodology with good results is QuEChERS solid-phase extraction followed by liquid chromatography

Antibiotic resistance against tetracyclines by American and European foulbrood strains has led to research of other antibiotics. Sulfonamides have been widely used, but specific methods of determining and detecting these compounds in honey are needed since toxic collateral effects in association with allergies have been observed in humans [60]. To this end, high performance liquid chromatography paired with time-of-flight mass spectrophotometry has detected trace amounts of these com-

Tylosin, a macrolide antibiotic active against many Gram-positive bacteria, has been increasingly used instead of tetracyclines and sulfonamides in beekeeping. Nevertheless, American foulbrood also presents resistance against macrolides. The best methodology for detecting macrolides in honey samples is solid-phase extraction followed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrophotometry [62]. Another type of antibiotic used against American and European foulbrood is streptomycin. This aminoglycoside can potentially control foulbrood disease in beehives. Traditional methods of detection include high-performance liquid chromatography with different strategies of solid-phase extraction [63, 64]. The adverse effects to consumers of honeys contaminated by streptomycin include acute otitis and allergic

Finally, a number of antibiotics have been fully banned in the control of American foulbrood due to adverse effects to human health. For example, nitrofurans are associated with possible carcinogenic effects while chloramphenicol can cause aplastic anemia, in addition to evidencing possible carcinogenic risks

One reliable and traceable treatment for efficiently eliminating the highly resistant *P. larvae* spores is the gamma irradiation (15 kGy) of structural components in beehives [67]. Effective treatment would reduce the significant economic losses caused by the destruction of all material contaminated with *P. larvae.* An important advantage of this methodology is that the same procedure can be used to control various diseases at once; i.e., fungal, viral, and bacterial diseases affecting bees can be effectively eliminated through gamma irradiation [68]. Nevertheless, the use of gamma irradiation to control apiculture diseases is restricted only to the elimination of spores in honey, beeswax, and inert material in the hive. Irradiation cannot be used on live individuals within the hive due to previously reported adverse effects [69].

**102**

An alternative strategy for controlling and combating *P. larvae* has been through peptides that an act as natural antibiotics against this microorganism. Some peptides evidencing infection resistance have already been isolated from adult melliferous bees [70]. More recent studies have established which peptides with antibiotic activity originate from symbiont bacteria present in bees, such as lactic acid bacteria and *Brevibacillus laterosporus* [71, 72].
