A six-month-long assessment of the health of bee colonies treated with APITHOR ^™ hive beetle insecticide

Abstract

The safety of APITHOR™ hive beetle insecticide on the health of honey bee colonies was assessed in a field trial in which 16 bee colonies that were exposed to two consecutive treatments each of three-months duration, were compared with 10 untreated (control) hives. Measurements of brood area, available hive frames occupied by bees (hive strength) and hive weight (as an indirect indicator of honey production) were recorded pre-treatment and after three-and six-months exposure to APITHOR™ treatment. Samples of honey and wax collected from six of the treated hives at the same times were independently tested for the presence of fipronil and its metabolites, and no residues were detected in any sample at either time. Mean net increases in the weights of the APITHOR™ treated and control hives were not significantly different (p > .05). Similarly, neither mean brood area nor the mean proportion of available hive frames occupied by bees in the control and APITHOR™ treated hives was significantly different from each other (p > .05) at both the three-and six-month post-treatment assessments. Compared to the control hives, however, significantly (p < .001) fewer live beetles were recorded in the APITHOR™ treated hives at these times.Seguimiento de la salud de colonias de abeja de la miel tratadas con APITHOR TM , insecticida contra el escarabajo de las colmenas Se evaluó la seguridad del insecticida APITHOR TM para el escarabajo de las colmenas en la salud de las colonias de abeja de la miel en un experimento de campo en el que se comparó la exposició n de 16 colonias de abejas a dos tratamientos consecutivos de tres meses de duració n cada uno, con diez colmenas sin tratar (control). Se tomaron medidas sobre el área de cría, la disponibilidad de celdillas ocupadas por abejas en la colmena (fuerza de la colmena) y el peso de la colmena (como un indicador indirecto de la producció n de miel) antes del tratamiento y después de tres y seis meses de exposició n al tratamiento de APITHOR TM . Al mismo tiempo que se recogieron las muestras de miel y cera de seis de las colmenas tratadas, se evaluó independientemente la presencia de fipronil y sus metabolitos, y no se detectó ningún residuo en las muestras. La media del incremento neto del peso de las colmenas tratadas con APITHOR TM y las colmenas control no mostró diferencias significativas (P>0.05). De igual forma, ni la media de área de cría ni la media de la proporció n de celdillas en la colmena disponibles ocupadas por abejas fueron significativamente diferentes entre las abejas control y las tratadas con APITHOR TM en las evaluaciones a los 3 y a los 6 meses posttratamiento. Sin embargo, comparadas con las colmenas control, las colmenas tratadas con APITHOR TM registraron menos escarabajos vivos significativamente (P<0.001) en estos tiempos.

How to slow the global spread of small hive beetles, Aethina tumida

“…Protection zones have to be established (see above) and inside these zones, measures have to be applied to limit SHB reproduction, especially destructive mass reproduction (Neumann et al 2016). The measures should include the use of in-hive traps (Neumann and Hoffmann 2008;Bernier et al 2015;Levot et al 2015), a beekeeping management that is adapted to the presence of SHB, incl. adequate sanitation of apiaries and other apicultural facilities (Hood 2011;Neumann et al 2016) and the treatment of the surrounding soil, if damage by SHB larvae or other clear signs (i.e.…”

In silico identification and assessment of insecticide target sites in the genome of the small hive beetle, Aethina tumida

“…Other insecticides that act at the cys-loop ligand-gated ion channels such as spinosad, fipronil, and avermectin are extremely toxic to honey bees [32,83,84]. Selectivity for SHB with these compounds is likely to be based on differences in spatial exposure rather than physiological differences in the target sites for these compounds, as observed in the effectiveness of Apithor® traps that are impregnated with fipronil for SHB control [14,85].…”

“…The use of physical barriers, such as entrance reducers, may lower SHB infestation level [11]. Additionally, a wide variety of traps exist to control SHB populations, but very few have been demonstrated to enhance honey bee colony performance in terms of brood area, adult population, colony weight gain, or colony survival [13,14]. Thus, insecticide treatments are sought after as an alternative and effective SHB control measure.…”

“…Insects possess three GABA-gated chloride channel receptor subunits [44,45]. Although not labeled for use in the USA, Apithor® harborages are impregnated with fipronil and are effective at reducing SHB populations [14].…”

Pesticide Residue Analysis in Hive Products of <i>Apis cerana indica</i> F. from Tamil Nadu, India

“…Pesticide poisoning to bee occur by contact action or by oral or sometimes through olfaction action. It will lead to death of the forager, brood and queen and further leads to abnormalities in the behaviour and physiology (Levot et al, 2015;Williams et al, 2015). Hence the pesticide level estimation is of greater importance.…”