울금 추출물 처리에 의한 꿀벌 노제마 포자 증식 억제 효과

Nosema disease in honeybees is caused by the microsporidian parasites Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae. Between the two, N. ceranae has been reported as an important threat to honey bee health. Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of ulgeum (Curcuma longa L.) extract for the control of N. ceranae in honeybees. In our study, ulgeum was extracted with methanol. A worker bee infected with N. ceranae spore was dosed and fed with ulgeum extracts at different concentrations (0%, 0.1%, 0.25%, 0.5%, and 1%). The number of spores in 20 days significantly decreased when 0.5% ulgeum extract was administered. Moreover, the ulgeum extract was not toxic to bees at less than 1%. The data suggest that turmeric could be useful in alternative strategies for the control of N. ceranae.