| Summary: | Bee venom (BV), or apitoxin, is a complex substance produced by a gland in the abdominal cavity of bees. The main component of BV is melittin, which is a largely studied substance due to its biological properties. To date, the most well-known bee venom and melittin are derived from domesticated honey bees, while venom and melittin derived from wild honey bees have been under-investigated. Hence, this study primarily reports the antimicrobial activities of bee venom and synthetic melittin derived from four different honey bee species (<i>Apis mellifera</i>, <i>A. cerana, A. dorsata</i>, and <i>A. florea</i>) in Thailand. All the bee venom extracts and melittins showed more robust antibacterial activities against Gram-positive (<i>Bacillus subtilis</i>, <i>Micrococcus luteus</i>, <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>, <i>S. aureus MRSA</i>, and <i>S. epidermidis</i>) than Gram-negative bacteria (<i>Escherichia coli</i>, <i>Klebsiella pneuminiae</i>, and <i>Salmonella typhimurium</i>) or a fungus (<i>Candida albicans</i>), while the synthetic melittins also have antimicrobial activity at higher concentrations than the bee venom extract. Furthermore, the <i>A. cerana</i> venom extract showed the highest activity against the tested bacteria, followed by <i>A. mellifera</i>, <i>A. florea,</i> and <i>A. dorsata</i>. Therefore, <i>A. cerana</i> venom may be further developed for use in medical applications as a potential alternative agent against Gram-positive bacteria and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
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