Management of mite pests in honeybee colonies through botanicals

Abstract

Honeybee mite species have been recorded to hamper the honey production in colonies and adversely affect the normal foraging potential of honeybees that helps in cross-pollination of most of the arable flowering plant species the world over. Among various honeybee mite species, the most common are parasitic and tracheal mites whose outbreak has been found to destroy honeybee colony even to the extent of 100 % in different continents. Due to residue problem, development of resistance, and adverse effects on non-target organism of synthetic acaricides, efforts have been made after the 1980s to investigate various botanicals and phytochemicals as natural products for managing mostly Varroa jacobsoni Oud., Varroa destructor, and Acarapis woodi (Rennie) in both laboratory and field conditions in colonies of Apis mellifera L. The most studied phytochemicals, thymol and menthol, have been screened extensively for their bioactivity in managing honeybee mites, which are synthesized by various plant floras especially from genera Thymus and Mentha, respectively. However, other botanicals and phytochemicals have also shown promising results in managing the mite pests in honeybee colonies, and various commercial products have also been developed based on thymol alone or blended with other natural products. Apart from evaluation of edible plant products, the biologically active plant species, namely, medicinal and aromatic plants which synthesize high content of biologically active phytochemicals, may be evaluated to develop novel and safe acaricides in the future to manage different species of mite pests in honeybee colonies.