β-Cyclodextrins as Carriers of Monoterpenes into the Hemolymph of the
Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) for Integrated Pest Management
Blaise W. LeBlanc, Stephen Boué, Gloria De-Grandi Hoffman, Thomas
Deeby, Holly McCready, and Kevin Loeffelmann
Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, USDA ARS, 2000 East Allen Road,
Tucson, Arizona 85719; Southern Regional Research Center, USDA ARS,
New Orleans, Louisiana 70179; and Southwest Watershed Research, USDA
ARS, 2000 East Allen Road, Tucson, Arizona 85719
J. Agric. Food Chem., 56 (18), 8565–8573, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/
10.1021/jf801607c
from the abstract:
The Varroa mite (Varroa destructor) is becoming ubiquitous worldwide
and is a serious threat to honey bees. The cultivation of certain
food crops are at risk. The most noted acaricides against Varroa
mites are tau-fluvaninate and coumaphos, but the mites are showing
resistance. Since these insecticides are used in the proximity of
honey, it is desirable to use natural alternatives. Monoterpenoids
such as thymol and carvacrol, that are constituents of oil of thyme
and oil of origanum, show promise as acaricides against the Varroa
mite (Varroa destructor), but the delivery of these compounds remains
a challenge due to the low water solubility and uncontrolled release
into the colony. β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) inclusion complexes of
thymol, oil of origanum, and carvacrol were prepared on a preparative
scale. ... The toxicity of β-CD and the prepared complexes in
enriched sucrose syrup was studied by conducting caged honey bee
(Apis mellifera) feeding trials. After the first and second weeks of
feeding, hemolymph and gut tissue samples were acquired from the
caged bee study. The levels of thymol and carvacrol were quantified
by solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography mass spectroscopy,
using an optimized procedure we developed. High (mM) levels of thymol
and carvacrol were detected in bee tissues without any imposed
toxicity to the bees, in an effort to deter Varroa mites from feeding
on honey bee hemolymph.
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