THYMOVAR®

Varroa control with natural

substances

www.biovet.chOctober 2007

2

Contents

1. Thymol and THYMOVAR®

2. Varroacide

3. Use of THYMOVAR®

4. Comparative trials

5. Practical trial

6. Incidence on brood, residues

7. Pest management strategy

3

1. Thymol and THYMOVAR®

2. Varroacide

3. Use of THYMOVAR®

4. Comparative trials

5. Practical trial

6. Incidence on brood, residues

7. Pest management strategy

4

THYMOVAR®

• Carrier material : sponge strips of viscose

• Impregnated with 15 g Thymol PH EUR• Slow evaporation of Thymol

• Veterinary medicament

• Swiss quality

6

Registration

• Bosnia-Herzegovina• New Zealand• Germany• France• Belgium• Algeria• Turkey• South Korea• Netherland• Israel• Cyprus• Austria• Switzerland

200720062006200620062004 20042003 2002 2002200019991998

7

Active Substance : Thymol

• Nature identical substance• Naturally contained in

thyme essential oil• Property : evaporates at

room temperature • Natural component of a few

honeys• Accepted for biological

control according to EU-regulation no. 1804/1999

OH

CH3

CH3

CH3

8

Thymol in honey

Honey Natural concentration of Thymol in honey (ppb)

Lime tree 160

Sunflower 25

Rosemary 25

Chestnut 10

(Guyot et al. 1998)7

9

Thymol in food?• In the EU, food legally

contains up to 50 mg Thymol/kg, with no maximum value for Thymol residues in foodstuff of animal origin

• In Switzerland, the legal threshold for Thymol residues in honey is 0.8 mg/kg

10

Thymol in everyday life• Uses by Humans

• Refreshing substances• Dental hygiene • Aromas (beverage, food) 50 mg/kg

• Features• Antibacterial• Antifungal• Disinfectant• Varroacide

9

11

1. Thymol and THYMOVAR®

2. Varroacide

3. Use of THYMOVAR®

4. Comparative trials

5. Practical trial

6. Incidence on brood, residues

7. Pest management strategy

12

VarroacideToxicity in laboratory :

(Imdorf et al. 1995)

Thymol µg/l air

%

Mo

rtal

ity Therapeutic window

Bee

Varroa

13

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

(internal assays in one colony 1998)

µg

Th

ymo

l/l a

ir

Time after THYMOVAR® application (days)

Threshold of enhanced bee mortality

Thymol during treatment with THYMOVAR®

Threshold of enhanced Varroa mortality

Concentration of Thymol

14

1. Thymol and THYMOVAR®

2. Varroacide

3. Use of THYMOVAR®

4. Comparative trials

5. Practical trial

6. Incidence on brood, residues

7. Pest management strategy

15

Use of THYMOVAR®

• 2 Applications per year :• 2 x 3 weeks• in late summer

• Temperatures• 15-30 °C• 20-25 °C ideal

16

Propolization

THYMOVAR® bee-hive strips may be damaged and propolized by bees. However, according to our observations, THYMOVAR® doesn’t lose its effectiveness against the mites.

17

Placement of Strips

DadantOne storey hive

Two storey hive

18

1. Thymol and THYMOVAR®

2. Varroacide

3. Use of THYMOVAR®

4. Comparative trials

5. Practical trial

6. Incidence on brood, residues

7. Pest management strategy

19

Field trials SwitzerlandE

ffic

acy

Pla

ce 1

4 co

loni

estr

eatm

ent

7 w

eeks

Pla

ce 2

17 c

olon

ies

trea

tmen

t

4 w

eeks

Pla

ce 3

14 c

olon

ies

trea

tmen

t

7 w

eeks

Pla

ce 4

10 c

olon

ies

trea

tmen

t

7 w

eeks

(Internal report 1997)

20

Allowed products

APIGUARD® THYMOVAR® Formic acid

Kirchhain (Berg 2004)

43,1%(5,52% – 91,4%)

n=15

86,5%(54,2% – 99,7%)

n=15

90,6%(55,7% – 99,1%)

n=15

Mayen (Otten 2004)

71,5%(25,2% – 99,7%)

n=21

92,6%(49,2% – 99,0%)

n=26

Field trials Germany

20

21

Field trials Italy

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

THYMOVAR® Apiguard Apilife VAR

Eff

ica

cy

[%

]

Baggio et al. 1999 Marinelli 1999 Marinelli 2000Assays :

>90%

24

1. Thymol and THYMOVAR®

2. Varroacide

3. Use of THYMOVAR®

4. Comparative trials

5. Practical trial

6. Incidence on brood, residues

7. Pest management strategy

25

Incidence on broodB

roo

d s

urf

ace

(cm

2 )

open

sealed

Fo

rmic

a

cid

Co

ntr

ol

TH

YM

OV

AR

®

Co

ntr

ol

Before treatment

(Pechhacker 2003)

TH

YM

OV

AR

®

No significant influence on brood

surface

After treatment

Fo

rmic

a

cid

26

Residues in honey

Legal threshold

Switzerland

Highest detected dose

(internal assays)

Taste detection threshold

Honey shows no alteration when THYMOVAR® is correctly used!

0.26

0.8

1.1

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

mg

Th

ymo

l/kg

ho

ney

27

Residues in honeyThymol residues in honey in field trials with Thymol-based products :

(Bogdanov 1998)

No further treatment

mg

Thy

mol

/kg

hone

y

Years :

28

Residues in wax

Evaporation of Thymol under different conditions :

(Bogdanov 1998)

1. Foundations, stacked in a closed cardbox box

2. Mounted foundations in a comb cupboard (unaerated)

3. Mounted foundations in a comb cupboard (aerated)

4. Foundations, drawn out in a colony

mg

Th

ymo

l/kg

wax

Number of days

29

1. Thymol and THYMOVAR®

2. Varroacide

3. Use of THYMOVAR®

4. Comparative trials

5. Practical trial

6. Incidence on brood, residues

7. Pest management strategy

30

Pest management strategy

Control of the infestation rate of the mites

Late summer treatment at the right moment

Winter treatment as soon as the colony is broodless (about 3 weeks after the first frost)

30

31

More than 50 Varroa per colony in December

Less than 50 Varroa per colony in December

Pest management model

J F M A M J J A S O N D

50

500

1000

2000

2500

Var

roa

per

colo

ny

Month

Ox

ali

c a

cid

1st T

HY

MO

VA

R®

Development of Varroa with a controlstrategy

2n

d T

HY

MO

VA

R®

Healthy winter bees

32

Pest management model

Control of natural mite fall (drone brood cutting)

Late summer treatment

Winter treatment

32

33

Summary

• Thymol : the ideal solution for Varroa control in late summer

• THYMOVAR®

• Natural• Simple• Effective• Harmless for bees

• Production of quality honey

• Integration in control strategy 33

34

Literature Baggio A., Piro, Roberto et al. (1999, publicated 2002), Prodotti a base di timolo per

il controlo della varroasi , l’APE, Heft 4, S. 30-33 Berg S. (2004), LLH Bieneninstitut Kirchhain, Erlenstrasse 9, 35274 Kirchhain Bruneau E. (2007), THYMOVAR® as us. Vet., Rapport d’essai, CARI, Louvain-la

Neuve, Belgique Guyot C., Bousseta A., Scheirman V., Collin S. (1998), Floral origin markers of

chestnut and lime tree honeys, J. Agric. Food. Chem. 46, 625-633 Goodwin R. M., Taylor M. A. , Mcbrydie H. M. and Cox H. M. (20006), Drift of Varroa

destructor-infested worker honey bees to neighbouring colonies, Journal of apiculture research 45 (3) :155-156

Bogdanov S., Imdorf A., Kilchenmann V. (1998), Residues in wax and honey after API LIFE VAR treatment, Apidologie 29, 513-524, Paris, http://www.alp.admin.ch/themen/00502/00503/00513/index.html?lang=en (02.02.2007)

Imdorf A., Bogdanov S., Ochoa R. I., Calderone N. C. (1995), Use of essential oils for the control of Varroa jacobsoni Oud. in honey bee colonies, Apidologie 26, 27-31

Marinelli E. (1999,2000), Report on investigations with THYMOVAR®, Istituto sperimentale per la zoologis agraria – Sezione di apicoltura, Roma

Otten C. (2004), DLR Fachzentrum für Bienen und Imkerei, Im Bannen 38-54, 56727 Mayen

Pechhacker M. (2003), Versuchsbericht zur Anwendung von THYMOVAR® zur Varroabekämpfung, A-3293 Lunz am See

Thanks for your attention!