Abstract:
Like other organisms, honey bees are under the threat of various parasites and microorganisms
surrounding them. These parasites and microorganism cause bees to be infected with many
diseases, weaken their colonies and accordingly lead to decrease in their productivity. While in
conventional bee-keeping chemicals are generally used to fight diseases and pests, in organic
bee-keeping required precautions are taken to protect bees from diseases before they get infected
or substances and methods not harmful to organic production are preferred.
In spite of all the precautions taken, when colonies get infected with any disease, they should be
treated and if necessary, colonies need to be isolated. In organic bee-keeping, instead of chemical
mixtures, phytoterapic and homeopathic treatment methods should be used. In order to protect
the equipments such as frames, hives and combs from pests, they should be treated with sodium
hypochlorite, caustic soda together with some physical administrations such as vapor and direct
fire. However, in organic bee-keeping the use of chemical drugs is forbidden. During the
periods, when veterinary drugs are administered, the type of the product, active pharmacological
matter, the diagnosis, pathology, administration method used, duration of the treatment and the
time when the treatment was terminated should be clearly recorded and the certification institute
should be informed.
One of the biggest challenges encountered in bee-keeping is varroa destructor parasite and it
should be treated with formic acid, lactic acid, ascetic acid, oxalic acid, menthol, timol,
eucalyptol and kafir etc. As formic acid is an organic acid naturally existing in honey, the dose
administered does not leave any residues in honey and after a short while following the
treatment, the ratio of formic acid decreases to its normal level, it does not have negative effects
on human health, it is very suitable to be used to fight against varroa and lime diseases.
Moreover, it has also been determined that eucalyptus peels and leaves and orange peels are
effective in fighting against varroa. |
