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1 April 2000 Comparative Laboratory Toxicity of Neem Pesticides to Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Their Mite Parasites Varroa jacobsoni (Acari: Varroidae) and Acarapis woodi (Acari: Tarsonemidae), and Brood Pathogens Paenibacillus larvae and Ascophaera apis
Adony P. Melathopoulos, Mark L. Winston, Robin Whittington, Tasha Smith, Chris Lindberg, Amy Mukai, Margo Moore
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Abstract

Laboratory bioassays were conducted to evaluate neem oil and neem extract for the management of key honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) pests. Neem pesticides inhibited the growth of Paenibacillus larvae (Ash, Priest & Collins) in vitro but had no effect on the growth of Ascophaera apis (Olive & Spiltoir). Azadirachtin-rich extract (neem-aza) was 10 times more potent than crude neem oil (neem oil) against P. larvae suggesting that azadirachtin is a main antibiotic component in neem. Neem-aza, however, was ineffective at controlling the honey bee mite parasites Varroa jacobsoni (Ouduemans) and Acarapis woodi (Rennie). Honey bees also were deterred from feeding on sucrose syrup containing >0.01 mg/ml of neem-aza. However, neem oil applied topically to infested bees in the laboratory proved highly effective against both mite species. Approximately 50–90% V. jacobsoni mortality was observed 48 h after treatment with associated bee mortality lower than 10%. Although topically applied neem oil did not result in direct A. woodi mortality, it offered significant protection of bees from infestation by A. woodi. Other vegetable and petroleum-based oils also offered selective control of honey bee mites, suggesting neem oil has both a physical and a toxicological mode of action. Although oils are not as selective as the V. jacobsoni acaricide τ-fluvalinate, they nonetheless hold promise for the simultaneous management of several honey bee pests.

Adony P. Melathopoulos, Mark L. Winston, Robin Whittington, Tasha Smith, Chris Lindberg, Amy Mukai, and Margo Moore "Comparative Laboratory Toxicity of Neem Pesticides to Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Their Mite Parasites Varroa jacobsoni (Acari: Varroidae) and Acarapis woodi (Acari: Tarsonemidae), and Brood Pathogens Paenibacillus larvae and Ascophaera apis ," Journal of Economic Entomology 93(2), 199-209, (1 April 2000). https://doi.org/10.1603/0022-0493-93.2.199
Received: 27 May 1999; Accepted: 1 December 1999; Published: 1 April 2000
JOURNAL ARTICLE
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KEYWORDS
Acarapis
acaricide
bioassay
neem
oil
varroa
τ-fluvalinate
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