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Our researches had as main purpose the making of a comparative study concerning the correlation between the raw and dry cocoons at some mulberry silkworm breeds. Analyzing the obtained results concerning the characteristics of the raw and dry cocoon as well as the correlation between them, we revealed that the lowest and the highest values alternate from a trait to another and from a breed to other ones, a positive correlation couldn't be established for the traits studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Royal jelly present quality of the biological and physiological exception of the reason for which is marketed widely is being used in various industries, such as the pharmaceutical, food (nutritional supplements) and cosmetics companies (Măghitaş, 2005). This paper contents a summery about physical-chemical composition of fresh and lyophilized royal jelly. Queen bees are made, not born, and their feeding with royal jelly is the key to that process. Royal jelly (RJ) is a yellowish and creamy secretion from hypo pharyngeal and mandibular glands of young worker bees (Apis mellifera L.) to feed all larvae for the first three days of their life and the queen bee for both her larval life and adulthood. The physical-chemical composition of pure royal jelly are analyzed by determining moisture, free acidity, pH, ash; and for lyophilized royal jelly are analyzed by determining free acidity, pH, ash. In literature 10-HDA content is the criteria of royal jelly quality analysis and it is a freshness parameter (Antinelli J.F., Sarah Zeggane, Renee Davico, Catherine Rognone, Jean Paul Faucon, Louisette Lizzani, 2003). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The validation of the method of DNA extraction from Apis mellifera L. tissue was the aim of our work. The honeybee samples were harvested from the apiary of the Department of Technology of Honeybee Rearing from the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca in August 2007. DNA was extracted according to the protocol proposed by Hunt et al., 1999 and modified by Wilkes and Oldroyd, 2003. The NANODROP device was used for purity measurements. In order to elaborate the validation protocol the following parameters were calculated: detection limit, quantification limit, repeatability, reproducibility and uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Declared honeydew honey samples from different counties of Transylvania were screened for total phenolic content by a modified Folin-Ciocalteu method and for their potential antioxidant activity using three different spectrophotometric methods: 1,l-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and Trolox equivalent antioxidant activity (TEAC). The results of the study showed that not all the declared honeydew honey samples, correspond to the EU standard for honeydew honey, and they can be divided in three groups: honeydew honeys, mixture of honeydew and multifloral honey and multifloral honey. Total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of the honey are not strongly correlated parameters they differ widely among honey type. Phenolic content expressed as gallic acid equivalents ranged from 33,42 to 286,6 mgGAE/100g in the analyzed samples. Antioxidant activity presents the highest values in real honeydew honey samples and the lowest activity in multifloral honeys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

28 declared honeydew honey samples were collected from different Transylvanian areas directly from the beekeepers (24 samples) or from supermarket (4 samples). Physico-chemical parameters as well as microscopic analysis were done in order to authenticate the honeydew honey from this part of Romania. The results of electrical conductivity, ash and mineral content, honeydew honey elements demonstrated that from the analyzed samples 7 were real honeydew honeys, 9 were mixture of multifloral and honeydew honeys and 12 were multifloral honeys. High quantity of honey, ddeclared and sold as honeydew honey do not correspond to the EU requirements for honeydew honey. To improve this situation, a better control by the authorities and certified laboratories, is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contents of Ca, Mg, Fe and Zn of declared honeydew honey samples from different counties of Transylvania, was determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy after dry ashing with air-acetylene flame (Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn). In all studied honeydew honeys, Ca was the most abundant of the elements determined, with average concentrations ranging between 54.75-102.6 mg/kg, followed by Mg (52.01-78.4 mg/kg), Fe (3.09-6.27 mg/kg) and Zn (1.54-4.65 mg/kg). These results confirm that Romanian honey can be considered a good source of minerals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

28 declared honeydew honey samples were collected from different Transylvanian areas. Origin of the samples was verified by physico-chemical parameters and pollen analysis. Their sugar profile was analysed by means of HPLC with refractive index detection. The results obtained showed that only 25% of the samples correspond to the requirements of honeydew honey. The rest of 75% samples were mixed blossom-honeydew or pare blossom honeys. Our principal objective was the determination of sugar profile for Transylvanian honeydew honey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring virus infections can be an important selection tool in honey bee breeding. A recent study pointed towards an association between the virus-free status of eggs and an increased virus resistance to deformed wing virus (DWV) at the colony level. In this study, eggs from both naturally surviving and traditionally managed colonies from across Europe were screened for the prevalence of different viruses. Screenings were performed using the phenotyping protocol of the 'suppressed in ovo virus infection' trait but with qPCR instead of end-point PCR and a primer set that covers all DWV genotypes. Of the 213 screened samples, 109 were infected with DWV, 54 were infected with black queen cell virus (BQCV), 3 were infected with the sacbrood virus, and 2 were infected with the acute bee paralyses virus. It was demonstrated that incidences of the vertical transmission of DWV were more frequent in naturally surviving than in traditionally managed colonies, although the virus loads in the eggs remained the same. When comparing virus infections with queen age, older queens showed significantly lower infection loads of DWV in both traditionally managed and naturally surviving colonies, as well as reduced DWV infection frequencies in traditionally managed colonies. We determined that the detection frequencies of DWV and BQCV in honey bee eggs were lower in samples obtained in the spring than in those collected in the summer, indicating that vertical transmission may be lower in spring. Together, these patterns in vertical transmission show that honey bee queens have the potential to reduce the degree of vertical transmission over time., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Bovine mastitis a major disease that is commonly associated with bacterial infection. The common treatment is with antibiotics administered intramammary into infected quarters of the udder. The excessive use of antibiotics leads to multidrug resistance and associated risks for human health. In this context, the search for alternative drugs based on plants has become a priority in livestock medicine. These products have a low manufacturing cost and no reports of antimicrobial resistance to these have been documented. In this context, the main objective of this study was to determine the antimicrobial effect of extracts and products of several indigenous, or acclimatized plants on pathogens isolated from bovine mastitis. A total of eleven plant alcoholic extracts and eight plant-derived products were tested against 32 microorganisms isolated from milk. The obtained results have shown an inhibition of bacterial growth for all tested plants, with better results for Evernia prunastri , Artemisia absinthium , and Lavandula angustifolia . Moreover, E. prunastri , Populus nigra, and L. angustifolia presented small averages of minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations. Among the plant-derived products, three out of eight have shown a strong anti-microbial effect comparable with the effect of florfenicol and enrofloxacin, and better than individual plant extracts possibly due to synergism. These results suggest an important anti-microbial effect of these products on pathogens isolated from bovine mastitis with a possible applicability in this disease.

We aimed at investigating the antioxidant, antiinflamatory, antiapoptotic and antigenotoxic effects of a Romanian Propolis (RP) extract in two concentrations (RP1 3 mg, respectively RP2 1.5 mg polyphenols/cm(2)), topically administered, either prior to or after UVB exposure, in a Swiss mouse model. Our results showed that both concentrations of RP extract, independent of the time of administration, significantly attenuated the malondialdehyde (MDA) formation and restored glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity. However, the 8-hydroxy-2-deoxy-guanosine (8-oxo-dG), nitric oxide (NO) and glutathione (GSH) levels were not influenced by UVB exposure and RP treatment. Interleukin (IL)-6 levels were significantly decreased by RP treatment, both before and after UVB-exposure. RP2 extract, in both regimens, significantly reduced the epidermal hyperplasia and dermal inflammation, whereas RP1 pre-treatment diminished only the dermal inflammation. The effect of our RP extract in terms of reduction of sunburn cell formation and of activated caspase-3 and TUNEL-positive cells was observed in both subsets of the experiment, RP2 having a slightly better protective effect as compared to RP1. The antigenotoxic effect of RP was demonstrated by significantly reduced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) formation. Our results suggest that RP extract might be a potential chemopreventive candidate by modulation of multiple UVB-induced signaling pathways in skin., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)