EVALUATION OF ACTIVITY OF SOME THYMOL-BASED FORMULATIONS FOR CONTROLLING HONEY BEE VARROOSIS.

Abdel Samed, A. M.; Abd El-Moein, Nadia M.; Ramadan, M. E.; El-Doksh, H. A.; Abdel-Lateef, M. S.; Mohamed, R. F.

doi:10.21608/jssae.2007.201122

EVALUATION OF ACTIVITY OF SOME THYMOL-BASED FORMULATIONS FOR CONTROLLING HONEY BEE VARROOSIS.

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University.

² Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Minya University.

³ Central Agricultural Pesticides Laboratory, Dokki, Giza.

10.21608/jssae.2007.201122

Abstract

Two under-experimentation thymol-based formulations (tablets, Var-stop and strips, Var-away) were tested on twelve beehives in a commercial private apiary located in El-Minia governorate. The apiary trial was carried out during September – October 2005. The main goals were to determine their effectiveness against Varroa distructor, taking into account natural mite mortality in control hives and to determine the residues of thymol in honey and wax. Both formulations significantly reduced the levels of mite infestation of adult bees, their varrocidal effectiveness according to the recommendations of the European Group for Integrated Varroa control were 97%and 93% for Var-stop and Var-away, respectively. Residues found in honey collected from the nest were 2.1 mg/kg for Var-stop and 1.7 mg/kg for Var-away. The residues were higher in wax (371 mg/kg for Var-stop and 475 mg/kg for Var-away).