Tau-Fluvalinate
Behandlungsmittel
Tau-fluvalinate is a synthetic pyrethroid that was introduced into the colony via impregnated strips and was among the most widely used varroacides worldwide in the 1980s and 1990s.
Tau-fluvalinate is a synthetic pyrethroid that was introduced into the colony via impregnated strips and was among the most widely used varroacides worldwide in the 1980s and 1990s. The best-known product was Apistan.
For present-day practice in Germany, the active substance no longer has any relevance. No tau-fluvalinate-based product appears in the bee institutes' overviews of varroacides approved in Germany. Anyone treating today works with organic acids, with thymol, or, as an emergency option, with amitraz or flumethrin.
Two reasons underlie this loss of relevance. First, the Varroa mite has adapted in many places. Large-scale European studies demonstrate substantial resistance to pyrethroids. Second, tau-fluvalinate is fat-soluble and accumulates in the wax cycle. In residue studies of beeswax, it is, together with coumaphos, among the most frequently found active substances, even years after the last application.
Two conclusions follow for the beekeeper. Remaining stock of old strips is no longer applied but disposed of as hazardous waste. And with purchased wax of unknown origin, legacy contamination must be expected, which is an argument for a closed, self-contained wax cycle.
Quellen (4)
- LLH Bieneninstitut Kirchhain: Infoblatt Varroazide, Übersicht zugelassener organischer und synthetischer Varroazide
- Hernández-Rodríguez u. a.: Large-Scale Monitoring of Resistance to Coumaphos, Amitraz and Pyrethroids in Varroa destructor, Insects 2021
- Landesanstalt für Bienenkunde Hohenheim: Rückstände im Bienenwachs
- Emmerich, I.: Zugelassene Arzneimittel für Honigbienen in Deutschland, Berliner und Münchener Tierärztliche Wochenschrift 2018