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Thymol

thymolbehandlung_20170128

In the 1990s, the Bee Research Centre took part in a screening programme testing the potential effectiveness of over 100 essential oils and essential oil components against the varroa mite. Although sage, hyssop and thyme oils proved interesting, only thymol has been used in acaricide products. Thymol treatments require little effort, and there are a variety of preparations on the market. The advantages and drawbacks of thymol use are listed in the articles "Apilife VAR: A new varroacide with thymol as the main ingredient" and "THYMOVAR for Varroa control".

Use of essential oils for the control of Varroa jacobsoni (Oud.) in honey bee colonies (PDF, 1 MB, 20.01.2017)
A. Imdorf, S. Bogdanov, R. Ibáñez Ochoa, N. W. Calderone (1999)

Projektnummer: 22.09.18.07.03

Übertragungspotenzial von antimikrobiellen Resistenzen in der Nahrungskette

Half of all consumed fruit and vegetables in Switzerland are imported mainly from the Mediterranean region and, more and more, from other continents due to the higher demand of exotic fruits and to an increasing trend towards international gastronomy. Although it is well known that food may act as vehicle of dissemination of antimicrobial resistance, there is still lack of information about how the international trade of fresh produce contributes to this spreading. Moreover, there is a gap of knowledge about how the antibiotic-resistant bacteria present in food behave in the gastrointestinal tract once ingested by humans, and therefore, whether there is a risk of AMR transfer to the human microbiota. This project will help us to find answers to this important public health issue.

Name, Vorname Standort
Hummerjohann Jörg Liebefeld
Marti Serrano Elisabet Liebefeld
Stergiou Maria Theresia Wädenswil
Thönen Lisa Liebefeld

Kläui A., Bütikofer U., Naskova J., Wagner E., Marti Serrano E.
Fresh produce as a reservoir of antimicrobial resistance genes: A case study of Switzerland.
Science of the Total Environment, 907, 2024, 1-12.

Olivares-Pacheco J., Marti Serrano E., Rodriguez-Rubio L., Calero-Caceres W.
Editorial: Antimicrobial resistance in aquatic environments, Vol II.
Frontiers in Microbiology, 14, 2023, 1-3.

Calero-Cáceres W., Marti Serrano E., Olivares-Pacheco J., Rodriguez-Rubio L.
Editorial: Antimicrobial resistance in aquatic environments.
Frontiers in Microbiology, 13, 2022, 1-3.

Apilife VAR: A new varroacide with thymol as the main ingredient (PDF, 103 kB, 20.01.2017)
A. Imdorf, S. Bogdanov, V. Kilchenmann, C. Maquelin (1994)

"THYMOVAR" for Varroa control (PDF, 75 kB, 27.01.2017)
F. Bollhalder (1998)


Although the use of thymol leads to residues in the wax and honey, these are negligible from a toxicological viewpoint. Since about 2008 the use of thymol-based products has been declining in Switzerland, and beekeepers making use of these products have tended to experience greater winter losses than those using e.g. formic acid.

Thymol residues in wax and honey after Apilife VAR treatment (PDF, 757 kB, 14.09.2016)
S. Bogdanov, A. Imdorf, V. Kilchenmann (1998) 

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