Study the effectiveness of essential oils (anise, clove) and Bacillus thuringienesis in controlling Varroa mites (Varroa destructor) on honey bees Apis mellifera.

Abstract

This study was conducted at the A.L.- Musayyib Technical College / Department of Biological-Control Techniques from 1/10 /2021 to 1/4 /2022. The study aimed to determine the effectiveness of essential oils (anise, clove) and Bacillus thuringienesis in controlling Varroa mites (Varroa destructor) on honey bees Apis mellifera. The results revealed that the efficiency of the bacterial suspension with different concentrations was less effective in the average destruction of the adult Varroa mite in the field compared with the Epistan pesticide and the control treatment in which only distilled water was used and the natural fall of the Varroa mite. The highest mean of Varroa mites killed using the bacterial suspension spray at a concentration of (33 x 106) CFU/ml after 48 hours of treatment was (6.63), which indicates a significant difference with the control treatment, which amounted to (4.54), while the lowest mean of Varroa death was at a concentration of (33). × 104) CFU / ml after 24 hours of treatment, as it reached (4.25). As for the Epistan pesticide treatment, it was used to compare it with the rest of the results of the study, where the pesticide treatments were significantly superior in all periods on the concentrations of the bacterial suspension and the control treatment and the natural fall with a significant difference, the average of death was (34.25, 34.00, 31.46, 27.4, 42.25) after ( 24, 48, 72, 96, 142) hours, respectively. The results showed that treating bee hives with cotton soaked in essential oil (for cloves, anise) significantly affected the average mortality of Varroa mites. It was shown that clove essential oil was significantly superior to the essential oil of anise with two concentrations (1, 2) ml/cell in the periods (24,48) hours after treatment. Whereas, the average mortality of Varroa at a concentration of (1) ml/cell of clove oil (was 19.12, 23.17), while at a concentration of (2) ml/cell, it reached (27.17, 32.12) after (24, 48) hours, respectively. While the average mortality of Varroa mites was at a concentration of (1) ml/cell of anise oil (17.4, 21.00), while at a concentration (2) ml/cell, it reached (24.96, 28.83) after (24, 48) hours, respectively compared with the control treatment and the natural fall. Keywords: Bacillus thuringienesis, Pimpinella anisum, Varroa destructor, Apis mellifera.