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".
Salomon M. J., Watts-Williams S. J., McLaughlin M. J., Bücking H., Singh B. K., Hutter I., Schneider C., Martin F. M., Vosatka M., Liangdong G., Ezawa T., Saito M., Declerck S., Yong-Guan Z., Bowles T., Abbot L. K., Smith F. A., Cavagnaro T. R., van der Heijden M.
Establishing a quality management framework for commercial inoculants containing arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.
Microbial inoculants containing arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are potential tools in increasing the sustainability of our food production systems.Given the demand for sustainable agriculture, the production of such inoculants has potential economic value and has resulted in a variety of commercial inoculants currently being advertised. However, their use is limited by inconsistent product efficacy and lack of consumer confidence. Here, we propose a framework that can be used to assess the quality and reliability ofAMinoculants. First,we set out a range of basicquality criteria which are required to achieve reliable inoculants. This is followed by a standardized bioassaywhich can be used to test inoculum viability and efficacy under controlled conditions. Implementation of these measurements would contribute to the adoption of AM inoculants by producers with the potential to increase sustainability in food production systems.
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.
