Project Aims

The NO PROBleMS project originates from a number of acquired knowledge on honeybee nutrition based on beneficial bacteria and plants extracts.

The use of beneficial bacteria to contrast N. ceranae infection has been successfully reported by both using pure metabolites and by viable cells, obtaining interesting results either on naturally or artificially infected honeybees. Nevertheless, their potential against N. ceranae remains widely unexplored, and our know-how is still lacking further scientific evidence, especially in the use of beneficial bacteria in the field.

Plant extracts are widely used in a number of commercial products targeted to honey bees, their use against N. ceranae has scientific support, but posology is usually unclear. The use of plants extracts has great potential as mitigating agents in the presence of environmental stressors.

The combined use of beneficial microorganisms and plant extracts to boost honeybees' health and productivity is the main goal of the NO PROBleMS project.

The specific objectives of the relevance of NO PROBleMS are therefore to:

1. Design of a product based on beneficial bacteria and plant resources acting against N. ceranae proliferation while preserving gut symbionts: This eco-friendly product should be capable of fighting both gut parasites and the general bee weakness deriving from environmental abiotic factors such as climate changes.
2. Implement scientific outputs in the field of essential oils and beneficial microorganisms: This research assumes particular importance in the beekeeping sector since it represents an implementation and a validation of the scientific results obtained from the international scientific community on plant extracts and beneficial microorganisms at a larger scale.
3. Perform in field tests on a large scale of the designed product: The best performing mixture of probiotic microorganisms, metabolites and plant extracts will be applied in field to a certain number of beehives to assess the efficacy of the mixture against N. ceranae and more, in general, the impact on bee health and wealth.

The NO PROBLeMS research project is financed by European commission.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Grant number: 777760