The efficiency of varroosis treatment

Varroosis is an ectoparasitic disease of honeybees caused by Varroa destructor mites. This disease causes honeybees’ health disorders, contributes to the deaths of bee colonies, and has a negative impact towards the apiculture in a global matter. There are many ways to treat varroosis, but the most common approach to control this disease is to use chemical solutions. The aim of this study was to research “Varostop”, “MAQS” and “Apivar” drugs’, used to treat varroosis, efficiency. Furthermore, the relationship between the level of infection by Varroa destructor mites and the amount of honey production was evaluated during the research. The research was conducted in 2018-2019 in a private apiary located in Alytus county. Drugs’ efficiency was evaluated in 15 bee colonies, each drug assigning to 5 separate bee colonies. The efficiency was calculated by dividing the number of killed Varroa destructor mites over 14 days of treatment by the estimated amount of the mites in that colony. The mean efficiency of the “Varostop” medicament, observed in a two-year span of the study, was 86.58%, “MAQS’s” – 89.95%, and “Apivar’s” – 93.32% (P<0.01). Moreover, in both years of the research the coefficient of correlation between the level of infection by Varroa destructor mites in bee colonies and the amount of produced honey was calculated to be negative: in year 2018 r = -0.75 (P<0.01), in year 2019 r = -0.68 (P