Feeding essential oils and 2-heptanone in sugar syrup and liquid protein diets to honey bees (Apis melliferaL.) as potential Varroa mite (Varroa destructor) controls

2009 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 256-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Sammataro ◽  
Jennifer Finley ◽  
Blaise LeBlanc ◽  
Gordon Wardell ◽  
Fabiana Ahumada-Segura ◽  
...  
Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1045
Author(s):  
Marian Hýbl ◽  
Andrea Bohatá ◽  
Iva Rádsetoulalová ◽  
Marek Kopecký ◽  
Irena Hoštičková ◽  
...  

Essential oils and their components are generally known for their acaricidal effects and are used as an alternative to control the population of the Varroa destructor instead of synthetic acaricides. However, for many essential oils, the exact acaricidal effect against Varroa mites, as well as the effect against honey bees, is not known. In this study, 30 different essential oils were screened by using a glass-vial residual bioassay. Essential oils showing varroacidal efficacy > 70% were tested by the complete exposure assay. A total of five bees and five mites were placed in the Petri dishes in five replications for each concentration of essential oil. Mite and bee mortality rates were assessed after 4, 24, 48, and 72 h. The LC50 values and selectivity ratio (SR) were calculated. For essential oils with the best selectivity ratio, their main components were detected and quantified by GC-MS/MS. The results suggest that the most suitable oils are peppermint and manuka (SR > 9), followed by oregano, litsea (SR > 5), carrot, and cinnamon (SR > 4). Additionally, these oils showed a trend of the increased value of selective ratio over time. All these oils seem to be better than thymol (SR < 3.2), which is commonly used in beekeeping practice. However, the possible use of these essential oils has yet to be verified in beekeeping practice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Desiderato Annoscia ◽  
Gennaro Di Prisco ◽  
Andrea Becchimanzi ◽  
Emilio Caprio ◽  
Davide Frizzera ◽  
...  

AbstractThe neonicotinoid Clothianidin has a negative impact on NF-κB signaling and on immune responses controlled by this transcription factor, which can boost the proliferation of honey bee parasites and pathogens. This effect has been well documented for the replication of deformed wing virus (DWV) induced by Clothianidin in honey bees bearing an asymptomatic infection. Here, we conduct infestation experiments of treated bees to show that the immune-suppression exerted by Clothianidin is associated with an enhanced fertility of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor, as a possible consequence of a higher feeding efficiency. A conceptual model is proposed to describe the synergistic interactions among different stress agents acting on honey bees.


Diversity ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleš Gregorc ◽  
Blair Sampson

Determining varroa mite infestation levels in honey bee colonies and the proper method and time to perform a diagnosis are important for efficient mite control. Performing a powdered sugar shake or counting mites that drop from combs and bees onto a hive bottom board are two reliable methods for sampling varroa mite to evaluate the efficacy of an acaricide treatment. This overview summarizes studies that examine the efficacy of organic acids and essential oils, mite monitoring, and brood interruption for integrated varroa mite control in organic beekeeping.


Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 395
Author(s):  
Beatrice T. Nganso ◽  
Kannan Mani ◽  
Yam Altman ◽  
Ada Rafaeli ◽  
Victoria Soroker

Olfaction as well as gustation, are essential for animal survival, allowing behavioral modulation according to environmental input. We focused our study on an obligate ecto-parasitic mite of honey bees, the Varroa destructor Anderson and Trueman (Parasitiformes, Mesostigmata, Varroidae). By mechanically blocking the main olfactory organ on Varroa forelegs by varnishing with nail polish, we were able to show that other sensory organs cannot significantly compensate chemosensory abilities required for mite’s host selection, identification as well as reproduction. In fact, we found that mites with blocked forelegs had a significantly lower ability to reach a host bee than those with varnished idiosoma and unvarnished control. Furthermore, fewer foreleg blocked mites were feeding on the nurse bees and their reproduction in the brood cells was significantly impaired. The inhibition of reproduction was also reflected in altered expression levels of vitellogenin and vitellogenin receptor genes in foreleg-blocked mites.


Biologija ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ataollah Rahimi ◽  
Yaser Khoram Del ◽  
Farzad Moradpour

Chemical control of the Varroa mite (Varroa destructor), which is one of the most important pests of honey bees, is practiced on a worldwide scale. However, because of abundant use of different acaricides, the mites have become resistant to many of them. We chose to apply non-synthetic chemicals for control of Varroa mites by using thyme (Thymus caucasicus) ethanol extract on honey bees. In September-October 2013, we collected wild thyme growing in Kurdistan mountains, ground it, and its ethanol extract was made by using 95% ethylic alcohol. We used a randomized complete design with ten treatments of different concentrations of ethanol extract of thyme as a statistical model and one control with pure 95% ethanol with four replications. The interior temperature of the brood chamber was measured to be 30 ± 1°C, and the ambient temperature surrounding them was 33 ± 2°C. We sprayed the extracted thyme solution on honey bees and counted the number of dead mites by picking them out from the bottom board of each hive at every 12 h, 24 h, and 48 h intervals after spraying. The results showed that the use of the thyme extract influenced significantly the percentage of mortality of dead mites in the extract-sprayed treatment and the control treatment. The percentage of mortality of the honey bees in control hives and the honey bees treated by thyme ethanol extract did not have a significant difference. Results of our experiment using ethanol extract of thyme showed that its use in hives was safe without a high risk of mortality for honey bees.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vimla Goswami ◽  
Poonam Srivastava ◽  
M. S. Khan

Varroa destructor is a dangerous pest directly for beekeeping and indirectly for crops that require insect pollination. The present investigation has been carried out to study the efficacy and persistence of some essential oils and formic acid against Varroa mite in colonies of Apis mellifera Linn. at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. The results revealed that highest mite mortality (77.54 %) with highest brood development (21.74 % increase) recorded in garlic oil followed by turmeric oil (75.84 %) with 15.39 per cent increases in brood development. The hives treated withT1(tulsi oil), T3 (turmeric oil), T4 (ajwin oil), T5 (cinnamon oil), T5 (clove oil) and T7 (formic acid) also showed good persistence with mite mortality ranging from 66.54 to 77.54 % and brood development -3.12 to 21.74 per cent increase after 3 weeks exposure of the treatments.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Qodratollah Sabahi ◽  
Mollah Md. Hamiduzzaman ◽  
Juan S. Barajas-Pérez ◽  
Jose M. Tapia-Gonzalez ◽  
Ernesto Guzman-Novoa

This study examined the toxicity of anethole and that of the essential oils of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) and sweet marigold (Tagetes lucida) to the mite Varroa destructor and to honey bee workers and larvae. Anethole was the most toxic compound to V. destructor (LC50: 304.9 μg/ml), whereas Tagetes oil was the least toxic (LC50: 1256.27 μg/ml). The most and least toxic compounds to worker bees were anethole and Tagetes oil with LD50s of 35942 and 85381 μg/ml, respectively. For larvae, Tagetes oil was the most toxic compound (LD50: 9580.7 μg/ml) and anethole the least toxic (LD50: 14518.0 μg/ml). Anethole and Cymbopogon oil had the highest selectivity ratios. The expression of AChE, a gene that regulates the production of acetyl cholinesterase, a detoxifying enzyme, was not altered in bees treated with the plant compounds at 48 h post-treatment. This study showed that anethole and Cymbopogon oil have potential for controlling Varroa mites and seem to be relatively safe for larvae and adult honey bees.


2020 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-473
Author(s):  
Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman ◽  
Vanessa Corby-Harris ◽  
Yanping Chen ◽  
Henry Graham ◽  
Mona Chambers ◽  
...  

AbstractVarroa destructor is an ectoparasitic mite of immature and adult honey bees that can transmit several single-stranded RNA viruses to its host. Varroa reproduce in brood cells, and mite populations increase as colonies produce brood in spring and summer. Mite numbers also can sharply rise, particularly in the fall, by the migration of varroa into hives on foragers. Colonies with high levels of varroa and viruses often die over the winter. Feeding colonies pollen might keep virus levels low and improve survival because of the positive effects of pollen on immunity and colony growth. We compared varroa and virus levels and overwinter survival in colonies with (fed) and without (unfed) supplemental pollen. We also measured the frequency of capturing foragers with mites (FWM) at colony entrances to determine its relationship to varroa and virus levels. Colonies fed supplemental pollen were larger than unfed colonies and survived longer. Varroa populations and levels of Deformed wing virus (DWV) rose throughout the season, and were similar between fed and unfed colonies. The growth of varroa populations was correlated with FWM in fed and unfed colonies, and significantly affected DWV levels. Increasing frequencies of FWM and the effects on varroa populations might reduce the positive influence of supplemental pollen on immune function. However, pollen feeding can stimulate colony growth and this can improve colony survival.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document