investigation of effect of green tea (camellia sinensis) and jujube (ziziphus vulgaris) extracts on varroa destructor (acari: varroidae)

Varroa destructor, an ectoparasitic mite, is responsible for causing varroasis which is the main pathologies affecting both brood and adult honeybees (apis mellifera) (1). natural substances have the potential to effectively control honeybee diseases and can be used as a natural alternative to reduce contamination of beehive products (2). the present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of green tea and jujube extracts on v. destructor in laboratory conditions and at the apiary. this investigation was carried out to evaluate effects of three concentration of the green tea and jujube extracts in three replications on the v. destructor under laboratory condition. in control group, mites were dipped in distillate water. twenty adult mites were used for each treatment. in an infested apiary, three groups (three hives with average of 3 mites per 20 hony bees for each hive) were chosen to evaluate basic concentration of green tea and jujube extracts (2.5%) in comparison with apistan and control groups. the adult mite mortality for the tree concentration of 1, 2, 3% was respectively recorded as 14.35%, 65.77%, and 98.84 for green tea and 8.48%, 49.81%, and 90.43%, for jujube exract. there was significant effect between green tea and jujube extracts in treatment and control group. the highest effect of green tea and jujube extracts and apistan on v. destructor was found in 36 (36.41%), 48(34.73%) and 24 (47.54%) hr, respectively. it was concluded that green tea and jujube extracts had lethal effect on v. destructor infestaion in honey bees.