Extracts from Eleutherococcus senticosus (Rupr. et Maxim.) Maxim. Roots: A New Hope Against Honeybee Death Caused by Nosemosis

Pollinators, the cornerstones of our terrestrial ecosystem, have been at the very core of our anxiety. This is because we can nowadays observe a dangerous decline in the number of insects. With the numbers of pollinators dramatically declining worldwide, the scientific community has been growing more and more concerned about the future of insects as fundamental elements of most terrestrial ecosystems. Trying to address this issue, we looked for substances that might increase bee resistance. To this end, we checked the effects of plant-based adaptogens on honeybees in laboratory tests and during field studies on 30 honeybee colonies during two seasons. In this study, we have tested extracts obtained from: Eleutherococcus senticosus, Garcinia cambogia, Panax ginseng, Ginkgo biloba, Schisandra chinensis, and Camellia sinensis. The 75% ethanol E. senticosus root extract proved to be the most effective, both as a cure and in the prophylaxis of nosemosis. Therefore, Eleutherococcus senticosus, and its active compounds, eleutherosides, are considered the most powerful adaptogens, in the pool of all extracts that were selected for screening, for supporting immunity and improving resistance of honeybees. The optimum effective concentration of 0.4 mg/mL E. senticosus extract responded to c.a. 5.76, 2.56 and 0.07 µg/mL of eleutheroside B, eleutheroside E and naringenin, respectively. The effect of E. senticosus extracts on honeybees involved a similar adaptogenic response as on other animals, including humans. In this research, we show for the first time such an adaptogenic impact on invertebrates, i.e., the effect on honeybees stressed by nosemosis. We additionally hypothesised that these adaptogenic properties were connected with eleutherosides—secondary metabolites found exclusively in the Eleutherococcus genus and undetected in other studied extracts. As was indicated in this study, eleutherosides are very stable chemically and can be found in extracts in similar amounts even after two years from extraction. Considering the role bees play in nature, we may conclude that demonstrating the adaptogenic properties which plant extracts have in insects is the most significant finding resulting from this research. This knowledge might bring to fruition numerous economic and ecological benefits.

not infected honeybees fed through 6 days with sucrose syrup supplemented with: -0.2 mg/mL of commercial extracts of E. senticosus (ESa), -1 mg/mL of commercial extracts of E. senticosus (ESb).
honeybees were firstly Nosema ceranaeinfected and after that fed through 6 days with a sucrose syrup supplemented with: -0.2 mg/mL of commercial extracts of E. senticosus (ESa), -1 mg/mL of commercial extracts of E. senticosus (ESb) firstly honeybees were fed through 6 days with a sucrose syrup supplemented with: -0.2 mg/mL of commercial extracts of E. senticosus (ESa), -1 mg/mL of commercial extracts of E. senticosus (ESb), after that honeybees were infected with N. ceranae GG Garcinia gummi-gutta not infected honeybees fed through 6 days with sucrose syrup supplemented with: -0.2 mg/mL of commercial extracts of G. gummi-gutta (GGa), -1 mg/mL of commercial extracts of G. gummi-gutta (GGb).
honeybees were firstly N. ceranae-infected and after that fed through 6 days with a sucrose syrup supplemented with: -0.2 mg/mL of commercial extracts of G. gummi-gutta (GGa), -1 mg/mL of commercial extracts of G. gummi-gutta (GGb). firstly honeybees were fed through 6 days with a sucrose syrup supplemented with: firstly honeybees were fed through 6 days with a sucrose syrup supplemented with: -0.2 mg/mL of commercial extracts of G. gummi-gutta (GGa), -1 mg/mL of commercial extracts of G. gummi-gutta (GGb), after that honeybees were infected with N. ceranae PG Panax ginseng not infected honeybees honeybees were firstly N. ceranae-infected firstly honeybees were fed through 6 days fed through 6 days with sucrose syrup supplemented with: -0.2 mg/mL of commercial extracts of P. ginseng (PGa), -1 mg/mL of commercial extracts of P. ginseng (PGb). and after that fed through 6 days with a sucrose syrup supplemented with: -0.2 mg/mL of commercial extracts of P. ginseng (PGa), -1 mg/mL of commercial extracts of P. ginseng (PGb).
with a sucrose syrup supplemented with: -0.2 mg/mL of commercial extracts of P. ginseng (PGa), -1 mg/mL of commercial extracts of P. ginseng (PGb), after that honeybees were infected with N. ceranae SC Schisandra chinensis not infected honeybees fed through 6 days with sucrose syrup supplemented with: -0.2 mg/mL of commercial extracts of S. chinensis (SCa), -1 mg/mL of commercial extracts of S. chinensis (SCb).
honeybees were firstly N. ceranae-infected and after that fed through 6 days with a sucrose syrup supplemented with: -0.2 mg/mL of commercial extracts of S. chinensis (SCa), -1 mg/mL of commercial extracts of S. chinensis (SCb).
firstly honeybees were fed through 6 days with a sucrose syrup supplemented with: -0.2 mg/mL of commercial extracts of S. chinensis (SCa), -1 mg/mL of commercial extracts of S. chinensis (SCb), after that honeybees were infected with N. ceranae CS

Camellia sinensis
not infected honeybees fed through 6 days with sucrose syrup supplemented with: -0.2 mg/mL of commercial extracts of C. sinensis (CSa), -1 mg/mL of commercial extracts of C. sinensis (CSb).
honeybees were firstly N. ceranae-infected and after that fed through 6 days with a sucrose syrup supplemented with: -0.2 mg/mL of commercial extracts of C. sinensis (CSa), -1 mg/mL of commercial extracts of C. sinensis (CSb).
firstly honeybees were fed through 6 days with a sucrose syrup supplemented with: -0.2 mg/mL of commercial extracts of C. sinensis (CSa), -1 mg/mL of commercial extracts of C. sinensis (CSb), after that honeybees were infected with N. ceranae GB Ginkgo biloba not infected honeybees fed through 6 days with sucrose syrup supplemented with: -0.2 mg/mL of commercial extracts of G. biloba (GBa), -1 mg/mL of commercial extracts of G. biloba (GBb).
honeybees were firstly N.ceranae-infected and after that fed through 6 days with a sucrose syrup supplemented with: -0.2 mg/mL of commercial extracts of G. biloba (GBa), -1 mg/mL of commercial extracts of G. biloba (GBb). firstly honeybees were fed through 6 days with a sucrose syrup supplemented with: -0.2 mg/mL of commercial extracts of G. biloba (GBa), -1 mg/mL of commercial extracts of G. biloba (GBb), after that honeybees were infected with N. ceranae Fum Fumagillin not infected honeybees fed through 6 days with sucrose syrup supplemented with 25 mg honeybees were firstly N. ceranae-infected and after that fed through 6 days with a sucrose syrup supplemented with 25 mg firstly honeybees were fed through 6 days with a sucrose syrup supplemented with 25 mg bicyclohexylammonium fumagillin bicyclohexylammonium fumagillin dissolved in 1 litre of the sucrose solution.
bicyclohexylammonium fumagillin dissolved in 1 litre of the sucrose solution.
dissolved in 1 litre of the sucrose solution, after that honeybees were infected with N. ceranae Colours of the A, B, and C groups are the same as in the corresponding Figure 1. honeybees were firstly N. ceranae-infected and after that fed through 6 days with a sucrose syrup supplemented with 25 mg bicyclohexylammonium fumagillin dissolved in 1 litre of the sucrose solution.

Supplementary materials
firstly honeybees were fed through 6 days with a sucrose syrup supplemented with 25 mg bicyclohexylammonium fumagillin dissolved in 1 litre of the sucrose solution, after that honeybees were infected with N. ceranae Colours of the A, B, and C groups are the same as in the corresponding Figure 2.