A Review of Nosema cerane and Nosema apis: Caracterization and Impact for Beekeeping

Abstract

Two microsporidia have been described infecting honey bees worldwide: Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae. The infecting forms of the parasite are the spores, ingested by the adult host insects. Studies demonstrated that the infection with Nosema spp. range from less than 1 to 100 percent, this disease reduces worker longevity by 22-44% which in turn reduces honey production and causes incomplete crop pollination. However, the used conventional drugs in beekeeping sector has a strong limitation due to the big concern about antibiotics resistance, transmission of antibiotics residues in beehive products and to a lesser extent, unbalancing risk of bee gut microbiota.This review highlights the importance to have healthy bee colonies, which implicitly lead to safety bee products. For this reason, orientation towards alternative treatments without antibiotics and based on natural products with higher antimicrobial effects it is very topical.