Testing the healing effect of ”Argentine tapes” in control and treatment of bee’s varroasis

Abstract

Oxalic acid (OA) with a prolonged healing effect on Varroa destructor, introduced through cellulose
strips into the interframe, is a new opportunity to control the disease varroasis in bees, including the
periods when a brood is kept in the beehive. Impregnated paper-cellulose strips with a thickness of 2.3
and 1.5 mm, with a solution of glycerol and oxalic acid in a ratio of 1 : 0.6 and tested in LangstrothRuth (LR) hives in different dosages according to the study methodology were tested in August and
September. The initial infestation of the bees in the experimental families was controlled – before the
application of the strips and the final one – when there was no brood in the beehives, at the end of
October. The degree of infestation was compared with that in a control group composed of untreated
families. The results showed that the strips with a thickness of 2.3 mm and placed in additional dosage
in other hives of the hive outside those with a brood, reduce the infestation of bees with a high degree
of reliability, in the range between 0.099–0.58%. The main amount of mites is disposed of in the first
ten days after placing the treatment strips in the hives.