22 Ara 2024 Pazar
Impacts of sub-lethal doses of amitraz and tau-fluvalinate on some parameters of honey bee workers and drones
Abstract :There are various chemicals available for the control of Varroa mites
from honey bee colonies including amitraz and tau-fluvalinate. The optimum dose
of these chemicals should give the highest Varroa control efficacy with minimal
negative impacts on honey bees. The high doses are expected to have destructive
impacts on honey bees. However, the impacts of the sub-lethal doses of these
chemicals on honey bees are not well known. Therefore, the potential effects of
the sub-lethal doses of these two chemicals on the survival of honey bee
workers and drones, and on some body parameters were investigated. The study
showed that the exposure of honey bee workers and drones to sub-lethal doses of
chemical A (amitraz 125 mg/ml) or chemical B (tau-fluvalinate 240 mg/ml) had no
clear negative impacts on their survival rates. Only tau-fluvalinate and not
amitraz showed adverse impacts on measured body parameters of workers and
drones, suggesting impacts on bee physiology. More insights into the potential
impacts of tau-fluvalinate at different doses including the optimum one on bee
physiology are advisable
Honey bees, Varroa, amitraz, tau-fluvalinate