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Thymol as an alternative to pesticides: persistence and effects of Apilife Var on the phototactic behavior of the honeybee Apis mellifera

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Abstract

Thymol is a natural substance increasingly used as an alternative to pesticides in the fight against the Varroa destructor mite. Despite the effectiveness of this phenolic monoterpene against Varroa, few articles have covered the negative or side effects of thymol on bees. In a previous study, we have found an impairment of phototaxis in honeybees following application of sublethal doses of thymol—lower or equal to 100 ng/bee—under laboratory conditions. The present work shows the same behavioral effects on bees from hives treated with Apilife Var®, a veterinary drug containing 74 % thymol, with a decrease in phototactic behavior observed 1 day after treatment. Thus, thymol causes disruption of bee phototactic behavior both under laboratory conditions as well as in beehives. The bee exposure dose in treated hives was quantified using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC–MS), giving a median value of 4.3 μg per body 24 h after treatment, with 11 ng in the brain. The thymol level in 20 organic waxes from hives treated with Apilife Var® was also measured and showed that it persists in waxes (around 10 mg/kg) 1 year after treatment. Thus, in the light of (1) behavioral data obtained under laboratory conditions and in beehives, (2) the persistence of thymol in waxes, and (3) the high load on bees, it would appear important to study the long-term effects of thymol in beehives.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Dr. M. Lambin and Y. Bertrand for technical assistance. This work was supported by the Conseil Régional Midi-Pyrénées, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, and the Centre Universitaire de Formation et de Recherche J.F. Champollion (Project 10051284). We thank Dr. A. Pavely for English language improvement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre Universitaire Champollion, Equipe VAcBio EA 4357 place de Verdun, 81012, Albi, France

    Jean-Luc Carayon, Nathan Téné, Elsa Bonnafé & Michel Treilhou

  2. CNRS-UMR 5169, Université Paul Sabatier, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse, France

    Julie Alayrangues, Lucie Hotier & Catherine Armengaud

Authors
  1. Jean-Luc Carayon
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  2. Nathan Téné
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  3. Elsa Bonnafé
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  4. Julie Alayrangues
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  5. Lucie Hotier
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  6. Catherine Armengaud
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  7. Michel Treilhou
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michel Treilhou.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Catherine Armengaud and Michel Treilhou contributed equally.

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Carayon, JL., Téné, N., Bonnafé, E. et al. Thymol as an alternative to pesticides: persistence and effects of Apilife Var on the phototactic behavior of the honeybee Apis mellifera . Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 4934–4939 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-2143-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-2143-6

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