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)

Publication List

Publication List

Publications Philippe Tschanz

Tschanz P., Albrecht M., Keller T.
Beyond pollination - The neglected contribution of ground-nesting bees to soil functions.
Basic and Applied Ecology, 84, 2025, 92-100.

Tschanz P., Walter A., Keller T., Albrecht M.
A review of soil tillage impacts on ground-nesting wild bees: Mechanisms, implications, and future research perspectives.
Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment, 375, 2024, 1-15.

Finerty G. E., Borrego N., Alibhai S. K., Jewell Z. C., Tschanz P., Balone T., Gabaikanye T., Gana M., Monnaanoka S., Mamou M., Pudidaroma S., Tshiama M., Araldi A., Crofoot M. C., Henley S. and others
The crossroads of tradition and modern technology: Integrative approaches to studying carnivores in low density ecosystems.
Frontiers in Conservation Science, 5, 2024, 1-8.

Albrecht M., Bossart S., Tschanz P., Keller T., Sutter L.
Grassland extensification enhances nest densities of ground-nesting wild bees.
Journal of Applied Ecology, 60, (12), 2023, 2550-2560.

Tschanz P., Köstel J. K., Volpe V., Albrecht M., Keller T.
Morphology and temporal evolution of ground-nesting bee burrows created by solitary and social species quantified through X-ray imaging.
Geoderma, 438, 2023, 1-13.

Tschanz P., Vogel S., Walter A., Keller T., Albrecht M.
Nesting of ground-nesting bees in arable fields is not associated with tillage system per se, but with distance to field edge, crop cover, soil and landscape context.
Journal of Applied Ecology, 60, (1), 2023, 158-169.

Shi X., Schmid B., Tschanz P., Segelbacher G., Liechti F.
Seasonal trends in movement patterns of birds and insects aloft simultaneously recorded by radar.
Remote Sensing, 13, 2021, 1839-1850.

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) 

https://www.agroscope.admin.ch/content/agroscope/en/home/themen/nutztiere/bienen/bienenkrankheiten/varroa/varroa-bekaempfung/thymol.exturl.html/aHR0cHM6Ly9pcmEuYWdyb3Njb3BlLmNoL2VuLVVTL1BhZ2UvUH/VibGlrYXRpb25zbGlzdGUvSW5kZXhNaXRhcmJlaXRlcj9hZ3Jv/c2NvcGVJZD0yMTIxNSZpc0RhdGVuUHVibGlrYXRpb25zbGlzdG/U9RmFsc2U=.html