The composition of mushroom Aurantiporus fissilis extracts from the Białowieża Forest will be patented by the Białystok University of Technology (PB) as the basis for the development of a natural medicine for a pestis americana larvae apium, which is a dangerous infectious disease of bees.

It is the result of several years of research by Prof. Sławomir Bakier, director of the Institute of Forest Sciences of the BUT, who is also a beekeeper.

The patent application for Poland, Europe and worldwide was filed in May 2020. Works on the registration of the substance for a veterinary medicine can take about three years.

The drug that can be created on the basis of the composition of the Aurantiporus fissilis (extracts from the fruiting bodies of the fungus) would be the first natural remedy for pestis americana et europeana larvae apium without side effects and any harm to both bees and humans. It will be also a drug that could be used for the normal functioning of bee colonies and as part of the prevention of this disease.