In vitro Antibacterial Activities of Honey Bee Extracts against Bacterial Isolates of Wound Infections

Abstract

Microorganisms most especially bacteria, continue to develop resistance against antimicrobial agents; hence novel sources of antibiotics are urgently needed to reduce this problem. This study was carried out to investigate the antibacterial activities of ethanolic, chloroform and aqueous extracts of Apis mellifera (honey bee) on isolates of wound infections. The isolates used in this study were procured from University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) and confirmed using morphological and biochemical tests. The isolates used include; Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pnuemoniae, Proteus mirabilis and Proteus vulgaris. Honey bees were collected from an apitherapist at Sunshine honey and agro foods, Akure, Ondo State Nigeria. The whole insect was used for in vitro antibacterial evaluation of the isolates using agar well diffusion method. Ethanolic extract of A. mellifera had the highest inhibitory activity with mean zones of inhibition ranging from 7.40 mm to 21.67 mm, chloroform extracts had moderate inhibitory activity ranging from 4.63 mm to 10.03 mm while the aqueous extract had the least activity with zones of inhibition ranging from 3.00 mm to 6.30 mm. However, no antibacterial activity was observed against P. aeruginosa for all the extracts. It is concluded that extracts of honey bees most especially the ethanolic extract have antibacterial activity and thus could be a potential antibacterial agent against isolates of wound infections.