Vet Med - Czech, 2015, 60(12):696-705 | DOI: 10.17221/8584-VETMED

Zeolite clinoptilolite as a dietary supplement and remedy for honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) coloniesOriginal Paper

I. Tlak Gajger1, J. Ribaric2, M. Matak1, L. Svecnjak3, Z. Kozaric1, S. Nejedli1, I.M. Smodis Skerl4
1 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
2 Ministry of Agriculture, Zagreb, Croatia
3 Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
4 Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Control of the nosema disease poses a major challenge, and therefore, treatment of this serious parasitic disease using natural preparations could be of great benefit. The aim of this study was to test the performance of zeolite clinoptilolite as a curative measure against honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera L.) naturally infected by Nosema ceranae. The histopathological structure, and the content and distribution of mucosubstances and histochemical activity of aminopeptidase and non-specific esterase in the midgut mucosa of honeybees originating from colonies fed sugar syrup supplemented with zeolite minerals was studied. A decline in the number of spores in honeybees fed with zeolite clinoliptolite was observed on the first sampling day (Day 10; 53.25 ± 15.15 million spores/bee), though a statistically lower number of spores in comparison to the control was confirmed on Day 20 (41.08 ± 9.4 million spores/bee), Day 30 (28.42 ± 7.79 million spores/bee) and Day 40 (24 ± 6.25 million spores/bee). The possibility of using natural zeolites as a dietary supplement for honeybee colonies as a preventative measure and for the reduction of the deleterious effects of nosemosis is discussed.

Keywords: Apis mellifera; Nosema ceranae; zeolite clinoptilolite; dietary supplement

Published: December 31, 2015  Show citation

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Tlak Gajger I, Ribaric J, Matak M, Svecnjak L, Kozaric Z, Nejedli S, Smodis Skerl IM. Zeolite clinoptilolite as a dietary supplement and remedy for honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies. Vet Med - Czech. 2015;60(12):696-705. doi: 10.17221/8584-VETMED.
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