Evaluation Of Oils And Extracts Of Some Natural Materials In The Management Of Varroa Jacobsoni Oudemans Mites On Apis Mellifera Honey Bees In Basrah Province

Abstract

The experiment was conducted in the apiaries of the Bee Project of the Plant Protection Department in the Basra Agriculture
Directorate during the month of October. The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of some natural materials in
reducing Varroa jacobsoni Oudemans infection on Apis mellifera honey bees, which included neem (Azadirachta indica) and
thyme. Thymus vulgaris, Eucalyptus obliqua, Rosmarinus officinali, olive, Olea europaea. Those natural materials were used
in three ways to control with volatile oils, by placing a leaf saturated with oil at the base of the hive, smoking using the
blower, burning the leaves of plants inside it, fumigating bee colonies, using aqueous extracts of natural materials and using
them as a direct spray on honey bees, for the purpose of evaluating the most effective methods of managing the pest.The
readings were taken after 24, 48 and 72 hours of treatment. The results of the statistical analysis showed that there were
significant differences in the percentage rate of Varroa mite precipitation after treatment with aromatic vegetable oils, as
it reached the highest average (85.31%) for neem oil treatment after 48 hours of treatment and the lowest percentage of
dropping (20.74%) for olive oil treatment after 24 hours of control compared to the control treatment, which amounted to
14.76% after 24 hours of treatment with petroleum jelly only.The fumigation method had a significant effect on the
percentage of Varroa mites falling off, where the highest average of dropping was 90.60% when fumigating neem leaves
after 24 hours of control, followed by fumigation with rosemary leaves by 85.04% after 24 hours of treatment, followed by
the treatment of thyme leaves after 48 hours of control, which amounted to 83.85%.While the fumigation treatment with
olive tree leaves recorded the lowest dropping percentage 29.00% after 48 hours of the control process compared to the
control treatment that was fumigated with burlap and canvas only, where the dropping percentage was 21.74% after 72
hours of treatment. The results showed that there were significant differences between the treatments of plant extracts
and the time of control, as the highest dropping percentage reached 94.27% when treated with neem leaf extract after 48
hours of control and the lowest dropping percentage when treated with olive leaf extract, which amounted to 26.25% after
72 hours of control compared to treatment The control, which recorded the lowest dropping percentage of 17.58% after
72 hours of control. While there are no significant differences between the control methods and the natural plant materials
used in the percentages of honey bee mortality in the laboratory. The treatment with thyme oil also achieved the highest
rate of honey hive production of 14.66 kg / hive and 14.36 kg / hive when fumigating with thyme leaves, followed by
treatment with eucalyptose and neem oils at a production rate of (14.30 and 14.13) kg / hive, respectively, and the lowest
production rate recorded. Fumigation treatment with olive leaves at a rate of 7.30 kg/cell compared to the control
treatment, which recorded the lowest production rate of 5.86 kg/cell.