Combating Varroa destructor in Honeybee Colonies Using Flumethrin or Fluvalinate

摘要

Mite mortality in two apiaries, one with 32 and the other with 15 honeybee (Apis melliferacamica) colonies, was recorded prior to and after flumethrin or fluvalinate treatments and aftera control, oxalic-acid application. During the 42- and 51 -day pre-treatment periods, the average dailynatural mite drop was 0.04 (+- 0.04) and 2.82 (+- 2.19), respectively, which represents 1.09% (+- 1.06)and 3.84% (+- 3.04) of the total number of mites found during the experiment. The flumethrin orfluvalinate applications resulted in an average mite mortality at the two apiaries of 214.46 (+- 260.02) and 4,098.64 (+- 2,508.31). The treatments resulted in a 19.11% (+- 14.62) and a 39.28% (+- 10.47) reduction in the number of mites in slightly infested colonies and 94.30% (+- 4.26) and 96.24%(+- 3.14) in highly infested colonies. The difference in treatment efficacy between both apiaries wassignificant (P < 0.001) and indicates that fluvalinate and flumethrin are highly efficacious in dealingwith highly infested honeybee colonies with sealed brood. The importance of effective mite controlin colonies with a high level of natural mite mortality is discussed in this study.