Abstract
Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) are the most effective pollinators for different crops and wild flowering plants, thus maintaining numerous ecosystems in the world. However, honey bee colonies often suffer from stress or even death due to various pests and diseases. Among the latter, nosemosis is considered to be one of the most common diseases, causing serious damage to beekeeping every year. Here, we present, for the first time, the effects from the application of the herbal supplements NOZEMAT HERB® (NH) and NOZEMAT HERB PLUS® (NHP) for treating N. ceranae infection and positively influencing the general development of honey bee colonies. To achieve this, in autumn 2019, 45 colonies were selected based on the presence of N. ceranae infections. The treatment was carried out for 11 months (August 2019–June 2020). All colonies were sampled pre- and post-treatment for the presence of N. ceranae by means of light microscopy and PCR analysis. The honey bee colonies’ performance and health were evaluated pre- and post-treatment. The obtained results have shown that both supplements have exhibited statistically significant biological activity against N. ceranae in infected apiaries. Considerable enhancement in the strength of honey bee colonies and the amount of sealed workers was observed just one month after the application of NH and NHP. Although the mechanisms of action of NH and NHP against N. ceranae infection are yet to be completely elucidated, our results suggest a new holistic approach as an alternative therapy to control nosemosis and to improve honey bee colonies’ performance and health.
Highlights
The European honey bee, Apis mellifera (Linnaeus, 1758) is the most effective and globally distributed pollinator of a large number of important crops and of wild flowering plants, some of which play an essential role in maintaining ecosystem services [1,2,3]
The amplification of the part of the 16S rDNA gene showed the presence of N. ceranae in both experimental groups (NH and NOZEMAT HERB PLUS® (NHP)) and the control group (C) during the two pre-treatment sessions (August 2019 and April 2020) and about two months after the two post-treatment sessions (October 2019 and June 2020)
At the end of the second experimental period in June 2020, compared to the pre-treatment period (April 2020), the NOZEMAT HERB® (NH) and NHP groups treated with herbal supplements showed a significant reduction in N. ceranae spores (p < 0.01)—about 67% (0.47 ± 0.58 × 106) and 60% (0.68 ± 0.64 × 106), respectively (Figure 1b)
Summary
The European honey bee, Apis mellifera (Linnaeus, 1758) is the most effective and globally distributed pollinator of a large number of important crops and of wild flowering plants, some of which play an essential role in maintaining ecosystem services [1,2,3]. The decline of the honey bee population has the most tangible effect on food sources for human and livestock, disrupting wild plant pollination and diversity, altering ecological interactions and function, decreasing crop yields, reducing the yield of bee products, a large number of which have important medical value, etc. Based on ultra-structural and molecular investigations, a new Nosema species in Apis mellifera, namely N. neumanni (Chemurot et al 2017), was described in Uganda in 2017 [19]. In an investigation on the prevalence of Nosema spp. in temperate and subtropical regions, pure N. ceranae infection and N. ceranae/N. apis co-infection were detected in apiaries from both regions, while pure N. apis infection was exclusively observed in the subtropical region [30]
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