ADVANCED OPTICAL TOOLS APPLIED ON HONEY SAMPLES FOR BEE HEALTH STATUS MONITORING

Abstract

Honey bees have a very important role in pollinating plants, in addition to honey production. Bee diseases are one of the reasons of a significant decrease in bee colonies in the world in recent years. Honey samples originating from hives with different infestations with N. ceranae were analyzed. Total phenolic content and total protein content were determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu assay and the Bradford assay, respectively. Fluorescence spectroscopy combined with PARAFAC was used to determine the spectral components originating from proteins (PFSC1) and phenolics (PFSC2) in honey samples, and their ratios were calculated. Phenols and proteins content in the honey samples, obtained by spectrophotometric quantification, decreases with increasing infestation levels in the respective hives infected with N. ceranae. A negative correlation was obtained for the ratio of PARAFAC components PFSC2/PFSC1 and the level of infestation with N. ceranae in honey samples. These results indicate that fluorescence spectroscopy combined with PARAFAC could be used as an optical tool for non-invasive and rapid screening of honey to estimate bee health status.