Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.
Department of Food Quality & Safety, Institute for Postharvest and Food Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Rishon LeZion, Israel.
Pest Manag Sci. 2022 Nov;78(11):4507-4516. doi: 10.1002/ps.7071. Epub 2022 Jul 22.
Varroa control is essential for the maintenance of healthy honey bee colonies. Overuse of acaricides has led to the evolution of resistance to those substances. Studies of the short-term acaricidal effects and safety of various lithium (Li) salts recently have been reported. This study examined the long-term in vitro and in vivo bee toxicities, short-term motor toxicity to bees and long-term anti-Varroa field efficacy of several Li salts.
In an in vitro chronic-toxicity assay, lithium citrate (18.8 mm) was the most toxic of the examined salts, followed by lithium lactate (29.5 mm), and lithium formate (32.5 mm). In terms of acute locomotor toxicity to bees, all of the Li salts were well-tolerated and none of the treatment groups differed from the negative control group. In an in vitro survival study, all of the Li treatments significantly reduced bee life spans by a factor of 1.8-7.2, as compared to the control. In terms of life expectancy, lithium citrate was the most toxic salt, with no significant differences noted between lithium formate and lithium lactate. In the bee-mortality field study, none of the examined treatments differed from the negative control. Amitraz and lithium formate exhibited similar acaricide effects, which were significantly different from those observed for lithium lactate and the negative control.
In light of lithium formate's honey bee safety and efficacy as an acaricide, additional sublethal toxicity studies in brood, drones and queens, as well as tests aimed at the optimization of administration frequency are warranted. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.
控制瓦螨对于维持健康的蜜蜂群体至关重要。杀螨剂的过度使用导致了对这些物质的抗药性的产生。最近，人们对各种锂（Li）盐的短期杀螨效果和安全性进行了研究。本研究检测了几种 Li 盐的长期体外和体内蜜蜂毒性、对蜜蜂的短期运动毒性和长期抗瓦螨田间药效。
在体外慢性毒性试验中，柠檬酸锂（18.8 mm）是所检测盐中毒性最强的，其次是乳酸锂（29.5 mm），甲酸锂（32.5 mm）。在蜜蜂急性运动毒性方面，所有 Li 盐均具有良好的耐受性，且各处理组与阴性对照组无差异。在体外生存研究中，与对照组相比，所有 Li 处理均显著降低了蜜蜂的寿命，降低幅度为 1.8-7.2 倍。在预期寿命方面，柠檬酸锂是毒性最强的盐，而甲酸锂和乳酸锂之间没有显著差异。在蜜蜂死亡率田间研究中，与阴性对照组相比，所检测的处理组均无差异。双甲脒和甲酸锂表现出相似的杀螨效果，与乳酸锂和阴性对照组观察到的效果明显不同。
鉴于甲酸锂对蜜蜂的安全性和作为杀螨剂的有效性，需要进行针对幼虫、雄蜂和蜂王的亚致死毒性研究以及旨在优化施药频率的测试。© 2022 英国化学学会。
