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)

Publikationen Ulrich Bütikofer

Berger T., Brasca M., Buchner M., Bütikofer U., Castiglioni B., Fritsch L., Cremonesi P., Eliskases-Lechner F., Morandi S., Schwendimann L.
Critical factors affecting the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus and staphylococcal enterotoxins in raw milk cheese in the Alpine region of Austria, Italy, and Switzerland.
Foods, 14, (13), 2025, Artikel 2176.

Ammann J., Bär C., Bütikofer U., Vergères G., Wahl F., Walther B.
Wohin soll die Forschung gehen?
Ars Medici, 3, 2025, 124-126.

Bütikofer U., Blaser C., Kim C., Pimentel G., Fuchsmann P., Meng H., Marmonier C., Dardevet D., Polakof S., Vergères G.
Effect of dairy and fermented food diet on the urine metabolome of young and older men: A randomized controlled crossover intervention study.
In: PIMENTO 2nd Forum on Fermented Foods. 5 February, Hrsg. PIMENTO, Malaga (ES). 2025.

Leoni V., Kast C., Bütikofer U., Giupponi L., Portmann R.
Identification of pollen types of beekeeping interest by non-targeted mass spectrometry.
JSFA Reports, 5, (2), 2025, 62-73.

Pimentel G., Bär C., Vergères G., Fuchsmann P., Roder T., Von Ah U., Portmann R., Bütikofer U., Pimentel K. J., Leoni V.
Non-targeted mass spectrometry in agricultural research: Example of the identification of pollen species, and nutritional value of fermented food.
In: Ilmac Lausanne 2024 - «Latest Advances in Non-targeted Analysis». 18 September, Hrsg. Swiss Chemical Society, Lausanne. 2024.

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.

Bütikofer U., Looser V., Haldemann J.
Raclette Suisse Qualitätsprüfungen 2023.
In: Raclette Suisse Qualitätstagung. 4. Dezember, Zürich. 2023, 1-36.

Bütikofer U., Blaser C., Kim C., Marmonier C., Dardevet D., Polakof S., Vergères G.
Effect of age and fermentation on postprandial serum and urine metabolites after consumption of milk and yogurt in healthy young and old men.
In: NuGOweek 2023. 5 September, Senigallia. 2023, 1.

Vergères G., Bütikofer U.
Das gastrointestinale Mikrobiota (GIM) - ein Schlüsselelement zwischen Ernährung und Gesundheit.
Schweizer Zeitschrift für Ernährungsmedizin, 1, 2023, 17-20.

Yi Meng H., Kim J., Fleuti C., Fuchsmann P., Polakof S., Dardevet D., Marmonier Corinne, Pimentel K. J., Bütikofer U., Vergères G.
Age-dependent serum volatilomics of milk and yogurt intake: a randomized crossover study in healthy young and older men.
Journal of Proteome Research, 22, (4), 2023, 1201-1212.

Vergères G., Bütikofer U.
Die gastrointestinale Mikrobiota: Ein Schlüsselelement zwischen Ernährung und Gesundheit.
Schweizer Zeitschrift für Ernährungsmedizin, 1, 2023, 17-20.

Guggisberg D., Pimentel K. J., Walther B., Badertscher R., Blaser C., Portmann R., Schmid A., Radtke T., Saner H., Fournier N., Bütikofer U., Vergères G.
Molecular effects of the consumption of margarine and butter varying in trans fat composition: A parallel human intervention study.
Lipids in Health and Disease, 21, 2022, 1-19.

Bütikofer U., Badertscher R., Blaser C., Fuchsmann P., Tena Stern M., Kuert P. A., Pimentel G., Pimentel K. J., Vionnet N., Vergères G.
Serum and urine metabolites in healthy men after consumption of acidified milk and yogurt.
Nutrients, 14, (22), 2022, 1-23.

Wechsler D., Berthoud-dit-Gallon Marchand H., Irmler S., Dreier M., Shani N., Guggisberg D., Portmann R., Badertscher R., Loosli F., Bisig W., Bütikofer U., Häni W., Fröhlich-Wyder M. T.
Formation of biogenic amines by Lactobacillus wasatchensis in experimental Swiss-type cheeses and related opening defects.
In: IDF International Cheese Science and Technology Symposium. 7 June, Hrsg. IDF - International Dairy Federation, Québec, Kanada (online Symposium). 2021, 1.

Bütikofer U., Burnand D., Portmann R., Blaser C., Schwander F., Kopf-Bolanz K. A., Laederach K., Badertscher R., Walther B., Vergères G.
Serum metabolites responding in a dose-dependent manner to the intake of a high-fat meal in normal weight healthy men are associated with obesity.
Metabolites, 11, (6), 2021, 1-16.

Kim, J, Pimentel K. J., Fleuti C., Blaser C., Scherz V., Badertscher R., Marmonier C., Lyon-Belgy N., Caille A., Pidou V., Blot A., Bertelli C., David J., Bütikofer U., Greub G. und weitere
Microbiota and metabolite modifications after dietary exclusion of dairy products and reduced consumption of fermented food in young and older men.
Nutrients, 13, (6), 2021, 1-28.

Vergères G., Bütikofer U., Burton K. J.
From Foodomics to Nutrigenomics: Translating food composition data into healthy diet.
In: 16th NuGOweek 2019. 9-12 September, Hrsg. NuGO Association, Bern. 2019, 1-120.

Eugster E., Fuchsmann P., Schlichterherle-Cerny H., Bütikofer U., Irmler S.
Formation of alanine, α-aminobutyrate, acetate, and 2-butanol during cheese ripening by Pediococcus acidilactici FAM18098.
International Dairy Journal, 96, (September), 2019, 21-28.

Bütikofer U., Kuert, P., Vergères G., Freiburghaus C., Vionnet, N., Pralong, F., Burton K. J., Pimentel G., Badertscher R.
Postprandial changes of the serum metabolome after ingestion of probiotic yogurt and acidified milk.
In: 15th NuGO week. 3 September, Newcastle. 2018, 1.

Pimentel G., Burton K. J., Rosikiewicz M., Zangger N., Bütikofer U., Von Ah U., Voirol M.J., Aeby S., Delorenzi M., Gilbert G., Pralong F.P., Vionnet N., Portmann R., Vergères G.
A multi-omics’ approach to characterise the metabolic response to the ingestion of fermented dairy products in healthy men.
In: Agroscope PhD/Post-Doc Symposium. 13.09., Hrsg. Agroscope, Reckenholz. 2018, 1.

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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)