Laboratory Evaluation of Miticides to ControlVarroa jacobsoni(Acari: Varroidae), a Honey Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Parasite

Abstract

A laboratory bioassay was developed to evaluate miticides to control Varroa jacobsoni (Oudemans), an important parasite of the honey bee, Apis mellifera L. Bees and mites were exposed to applications of essential oil constituents in petri dishes (60 by 20 mm). The registered mite control agents tau-fluvalinate (Apistan) and formic acid also were evaluated as positive controls. Treatments that caused high mite mortality (> 70%) at doses that produced low bee mortality (< 30%) were considered mite selective. The six most selective of the 22 treatments tested (clove oil, benzyl acetate, thymol, carvacrol, methyl salicylate, and Magic3) were further evaluated to estimate LD50 values and selectivity ratios (A. mellifera LD50/V. jacobsoni LD50) at 24, 43, and 67 h after exposure. Tau-fluvalinate was the most selective treatment, but thymol, clove oil, Magic3, and methyl salicylate demonstrated selectivity equal to or greater than formic acid. The effect of mode of application (complete exposure versus vapor only) on bee and mite mortality was assessed for thymol, clove oil, and Magic3 by using a 2-chambered dish design. Estimated V. jacobsoni LD50 values were significantly lower for complete exposure applications of thymol and Magic3, suggesting that both vapor and topical exposure influenced mite mortality, whereas estimated values for clove oil suggested that topical exposure had little or no influence on mite mortality. These results indicate that essential oil constituents alone may not be selective enough to control Varroa under all conditions, but could be a useful component of an integrated pest management approach to parasitic mite management in honey bee colonies.

Effectiveness of Acaricidal Treatments against Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) Affecting Honey Bee, Apis mellifera L. Colonies

“…Rashid et al, (2012) studied that 3.2% OA with 4g thymol was the best treatment for controlling two ectoparasitic mites, Varroa destructor (Anderson and Trueman) and Tropilaelapsclareae (Delfinado and Baker) populations in honeybee, Apis mellifera colonies. Lindberg et al, (2000) and Ali et al (2002) recently evaluated several essential oils and related compounds including thymol, benzyl acetate and methyl salicylate as treatments for mites. These results indicated that the compounds they tested may not be highly effective under all conditions, but they suggest that they could be useful component on an integrated pest management approach.…”

Evaluation of a thymol formulation efficacy against Varroa destructor under Central Greek climatic conditions

“…Greater emphasis was given to thymol against Varroasis in Europe and America (Giordani 1977, Grobov et al 1981, Mautz 1982, Mikityuk 1983, Pinzauti et al 1987, Hoppe and Ritter 1989, Colin 1990, Lodesani et al 1990, Fruii et al 1991, Rickli et al 1991, Liebig et al 1992, Var Der Steen 1992, Moosbeckhofer 1993, Mulinelli et al 1993, Imdorf et al 1994, Calderone and Spivac 1995, Imdorf et al 1995, Gregore and Jelenc 1996, Higes and Liorente 1997, Loglio et al 1997, Bacandritsos 1998, Colombo and Spreafico 1999, Mattila and Otis 1999, Bacandritsos and Lolos 2000, Lindberg et al 2000, Mattila et al 2000, Bacandritsos et al 2002a, Bacandritsos et al 2002b). …”

Impact of Biological Agents and Plant Essential Oils on Growth, Quality and Productivity of Cabbage and Cauliflower Plants Correlated to Some Diseases Control

“…Essential oils could act bio preservatives, reducing or eliminating pathogenic bacteria and increasing the overall quality of animal and vegetable food products (Solorzano -Santos and Miranda -Novales, 2012). Also, the essential oils that are most efficacious against pests are often the most phytotoxic (Lindberg et al, 2000). The essential oils of clove reduced disease severity on tomato plants compared with control, however, application of fungicides against these pathogens may reduce the disease incidence but it is neither cost effective nor environment friendly (Lucas et al, 2012a), although fungicides control of plant diseases is probably the easiest and quickest method of control, but fungicides residues constitute a problem for public health (Wasfi et al, 2016).…”