EFFICIENCY OF SOME BOTANICALS AGAINST Varroa destructor INFESTING HONEYBEE COLONIES AND THEIR IMPACT ON BROOD REARING ACTIVITY AND CLOVER HONEY YIELD | ||
| Zagazig Journal of Agricultural Research | ||
| Article 9, Volume 46, Issue 2, March and April 2019, Pages 367-375 PDF (364.45 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/zjar.2019.33392 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Amany E. El-Nagar* ; S. I. Yousif-Khalil; S. M.A. El-Shakaa; Walaa M. Helaly | ||
| Plant Prot. Dept., Fac. Agric., Zagazig Univ., Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| This work is a study to evaluate the effect of some botanicals-based food mixtures added to sucrose syrup and offered to honeybee colonies on the development of Varroa infestation, brood rearing activity and clover honey yield during 2016/2017. The experiments were performed in the apiary of Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University. Summarized results are as follow: The rate of Varroa infestation increased gradually during summer season until recording the highest value in November. The food mixture composed of lemon juice + garlic extract reduced significantly the rate of Varroa infestation as compared to the control in all seasons of the year by 37.02-55.40%. The mixtures composed of parnove extract + orange juice and thyme extract + orange juice reduced significantly the rate of Varroa infestation during the period extended from February to August, recording the range of 35.82 – 45.47 and 34.78-48.13% reduction, respectively. The highest brood area (inch2) was recorded during summer season followed closely by that of spring season, whereas the least activity was noticed in autumn season. The food mixture composed of lemon juice + garlic extract induced the highest brood rearing activity in all seasons of the year. The mixture of parnove extract + orange juice came in the second class. On the other hand, the mixture composed of thyme extract + orange juice showed the least brood rearing activity, being lower than the control. The mean clover honey yield recorded 5.00, 1.70, 6.50 and 4.00 kg/colony in 2016; 3.90, 2.00, 5.60 and 1.50 kg/colony in 2017 which offered the additive mixtures of parnove extract + orange juice, thyme extract + orange juice, lemon juice + garlic extract and sucrose syrup (control), respectively. The respective two years mean clover honey yield recorded 4.45, 1.85, 6.05 and 2.75 kg/colony. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Botanicals; Varroa destructor; brood; honey yield; Honey bee | ||
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