Evaluating the impact of jatropha oil extract against the Varroa mite, Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman (Arachnida: Acari: Varroidae), infesting honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera L.)

TheVarroamite,Varroa destructorAnderson & Trueman (Arachnida: Acari: Varroidae), is a severe external parasitic mite of honeybees that causes great losses of colonies globally. Four concentrations (1, 2%, 5, and 10%) ofJatropha curcasoil were tested for controlling theVarroamite. Significant effects of reducing percentage of the mite infestation (P= 0.05) after second treatment for sealed brood and after third treatment for adult workers in all tested concentrations ofJ. curcaswere recorded. The low concentrations 1 and 2% ofJ. curcaswere more effective than the higher ones 5 and 10% on reduction of percentage ofVarroamite infestation. Moreover, the colonies treated with the lowest concentrations of jatropha oil had the highest amount of brood area (75.75 and 77.50 inch(2)) and the highest number of combs covered with bees compared with the colonies treated with the concentrations 5 and 10%. Treated colonies with the concentrations 1, 10, and 5% had a high amount of stored honey and pollen grains, 126.50, 111, and 96 inch(2)and 11.25, 9.75, and 9.75 inch(2), respectively. Obtained results encourage researchers to study deeply the ability of using jatropha oil in the widely field of Apicultural.