Efficacies of Chemical and Biological Products Employed in the Integrated Treatment of Varroa destructor in Algeria

The fight against the Varroa destructor has become a major concern for beekeepers around the world in general and in Algeria in particular. Indeed, several related chemicals have been released to the market but the problems of efficiency and development of resistance by this parasite to some of these compounds worry beekeepers. The objective of this study was to test efficacies of several approved chemicals as well as some natural products that are based on thymol and oxalic acid in treatment of Varroa destructor. The experiment was conducted on 60 colonies of Apis meliffera intermissa in the region of Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria. Of the products approved in Algeria and tested in the present study, Bayvarol recorded the highest efficiency (94.69%), followed by Apivar (91.59%) and Apistan (76.92%). Efficiencies of the natural treatments were 93.96% for Apilife Var, 89.32% for Oxuvar, and 90.57% for Apibioxal. Our study showed a very low efficacy of Apistan, which is widely used by beekeepers, in treatment of Varroa destructor. The effectiveness of organic products in treating Varroa destructor is highly promising for integration into an alternative control strategy.