<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><italic>Varroa destructor</italic> is the most important honey bee parasite. There are various methods used in the control of this mite, but none of them meets all requested criteria, to be safe, effective and easy to apply. The objective of this study was to evaluate the varroacidal efficacy of newly created plant-derived formulation Argus Ras (mixture of extracts of <italic>Sophora flavescens, Ginkgo biloba</italic>, <italic>Gleditsia chinensis</italic> and <italic>Teucrium chamaedrys</italic>) in a field trial. The investigation was conducted on 240 <italic>Apis mellifera</italic> colonies equalized in respect of brood amount, adult bee population and food reserves. Efficiency was evaluated by applying Argus Ras consecutively with two other acaricides, amitraz and oxalic acid. Average acaricidal efficacy of Argus Ras was 80.89%, being higher of other previously tested essential oils. Besides, it showed a potential in knocking down the mites resistant to other acaricides. It should not be neglected that Argus Ras requires a smaller number of treatments and financial investments than other formulations used for the control of <italic>Varroa</italic> mites.</p></abstract>

Varroa destructor is the most important honey bee parasite. There are various methods used in the control of this mite, but none of them meets all requested criteria, to be safe, effective and easy to apply. The objective of this study was to evaluate the varroacidal efficacy of newly created plant-derived formulation Argus Ras (mixture of extracts of Sophora flavescens, Ginkgo biloba, Gleditsia chinensis and Teucrium chamaedrys) in a field trial. The investigation was conducted on 240 Apis mellifera colonies equalized in respect of brood amount, adult bee population and food reserves. Efficiency was evaluated by applying Argus Ras consecutively with two other acaricides, amitraz and oxalic acid. Average acaricidal efficacy of Argus Ras was 80.89%, being higher of other previously tested essential oils. Besides, it showed a potential in knocking down the mites resistant to other acaricides. It should not be neglected that Argus Ras requires a smaller number of treatments and financial investments than other formulations used for the control of Varroa mites.

Efficacy of plant-derived formulation “Argus Ras” in <italic>Varroa destructor</italic> control

Department of Biology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Department of Statistics, Faculty of Agriculture

Acta Veterinaria

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Efficacy of plant-derived formulation “Argus Ras” in  control

Varroa destructor is the most important honey bee parasite. There are various methods used in the control of this mite, but none of them meets all requested...

Efficacy of plant-derived formulation “Argus Ras” in Varroa destructor control

Publié en ligne: 26 juin 2017

Pages: 191 - 200

Reçu: 03 nov. 2016

Accepté: 13 mars 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/acve-2017-0017

Mots clés
plant-derived acaricide, oxalic acid, amitraz

© 2017 Stanimirović Zoran et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Efficacy of plant-derived formulation “Argus Ras” in Varroa destructor control

Publié en ligne: 26 juin 2017

Pages: 191 - 200

Reçu: 03 nov. 2016

Accepté: 13 mars 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/acve-2017-0017

Mots clésplant-derived acaricide, oxalic acid, amitraz

© 2017 Stanimirović Zoran et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Mots clés
plant-derived acaricide, oxalic acid, amitraz