Abstract

"The varroasis is considered the most serious parasitic disease of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.); it is produced by the mite Varroa destructor Anderson & Truemann. A large number of products have been tested for the control of this parasitic disease. Currently, resistant races, problems of contamination of honey and other products of the hive have been generated by the indiscriminate and reiterated use of some products against this mite. The current tendency for its control is the utilization of natural products as part of an integrated control strategy. This investigation had the objective of evaluating the effects of essential oils, extracted from lavender (Lavandula officinalis Chaix) and laurel (Laurelia sempervirens Ruiz et Pav. Tul.) on V. destructor. The experimental unit, consisted of a cage with 15 bees, each affected by one mite. Four treatments were employed: essential oil of lavender (30%), essential oil of laurel (30%), pure acetone, and the control that received distillated water. Products were applied in the cage, in a climatic chamber, with similar conditions to the hive. The period of evaluation lasted 24 h, at intervals of 1, 3, 5, 8, 14 and 24 h. Both essential oils removed 100% of the mites, however, the percentage of mortality of the mite was low, 41.67 and 35% for lavender oil and laurel oil, respectively."