Laсtobaсillus сasei IMV B-7280 Immunobiotic Strain Influence on the Viability of Honey Bees and the Content of Microelements in the Organism

Abstract

In modern beekeeping it is important to get safe ecological products, stimulate reproduction and increase the resistance of bees to various diseases as well as to protect them from adverse environmental conditions. Due to this, in recent years there has been a tendency to use biologically active preparations and means of protection of natural origin in beekeeping. They may help to avoid many side effects, because the mechanisms of their biological action are significantly different from synthetic and are based on the physiological activation of the organism’s protective reactions. The aim of the research was to determine the biological activity of Lactobacillus casei IMV B-7280 immunobiotic strain in honey bees and its influence on their life expectancy and the content of certain mineral elements in organism tissues. Methods. The research was conducted on honey bees of the Carpathian breed, 25–45 individuals in each group, formed in gardens from three bee families from the apiary-vivarium of the Institute of Animal Biology of NAAS of Ukraine. To determine the influence of the immunobiotic, a control (І) and three experimental (ІІ, ІІІ, IV) groups were formed. The bees of the experimental groups were fed with sugar syrup together with the immunobiotic strain in various concentrations. The alimentation of bees of control and experimental groups was provided under similar conditions of the laboratory thermostat with microventilation at a temperature of 30.0°C and relative humidity of 74–76% during 12 days of research. During the research period, daily counting of the number of live and dead bees, their motor and forage activity was performed. After feeding, 25 bees were selected from each group and grounded on homogenizer. Got homogenate of tissues was used to search the content of individual trace elements on atomic absorption spectrophotometer SF-115 PC with a computer program for calculating the concentration of elements. Results. The corrective influence of the immunobiotic on the content of Fe, Zn, Co, Cu, Cd, Pb in the tissues of bees and their viability depending on the used concentration has been established. Under the conditions of immunobiotic strain addition to the sugar syrup at a concentration from 1x105 to 1x109cells/ml, an increase in the Cobalt content was observed against the background of a decrease in Cadmium and Lead content in tissue samples of bees of the experimental groups compared to the control. The best dynamics in the number of live bees in gardens was observed under the action of high concentration of immunobiotic strain, with the preservation of 100% of live bees during the first 8 days of immunobiotic use. During the period from 9th to 12th days a decrease in the number of live bees from 88 to 82% was detected. In the control group, the survival of bees in this period was 7.3 and 2.4% respectively. Conclusions. The use of Lactobacillus casei IMV B-7280 immunobiotic strain with sugar syrup for feeding bees provides stimulation of their viability, the development of bee colonies, increases the organism’s resistance and optimizes the content of certain mineral elements in tissues. The expediency of further researches of the biological activity and safety of the immunobiotic in different experimental models using honey bees is substantiated.