title: Evaluation of the impact of Exomite Pro on Varroa mite (Varroa destructor) populations and honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies: efficacy, side effects and residues.
abstract: In this research, we examined the application of thymol-based powder, directly over the top of the brood frames in colonies with different population in a 2-year study. The efficacy against mites, the side effects on bees and the contamination of honey were studied comparably to thymol-based gel treatment. In one-store colonies, thymol-based powder treatment gave average efficacy 64.5% and did not differ significantly from thymol-based gel treatment (65.4%). The natural mortality in control colonies was 41.4% and the corrected efficacy (E T) during 2 years was 39.4 and 40.9%, respectively. In two-store bee colonies, the application of thymol-based powder on top of each hive body gave higher E T (45,4%) than on top of the double body hive (40.4%), without statistically significant differences. The average concentration of thymol residues in honey 24 days after the application was 368 and 1,119 μg kg(-1) for the honey of colonies treated with thymol-based powder and thymol-base gel, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Apiculture-Sericulture, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University, 54006, Thessaloniki, Greece, tananaki@agro.auth.gr.
authors.forename: Chrysoula
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tananaki
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Goras
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Huggett
authors.forename: Emmanouel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karazafiris
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dimou
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thrasyvoulou
mesh_terms: D056810:Acaricides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000187:drug effects / Q000469:parasitology*; D005782:Gels; D006722:Honey / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D010573:Pesticide Residues / Q000032:analysis; D011208:Powders; D013943:Thymol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D057077:Varroidae / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D056810:Acaricides; D005782:Gels; D010573:Pesticide Residues; D011208:Powders; D013943:Thymol