_____________Mun. Ent. Zool. Vol. 12, No. 2, June 2017__________ 516 IMPACTS OF SUB-LETHAL DOSES OF AMITRAZ AND TAU- FLUVALINATE ON SOME PARAMETERS OF HONEY BEE WORKERS AND DRONES Hossam F. Abou-Shaara*, **, Martin Staron* and Tatiana Čermáková* * Animal Production Research Centre Nitra, Institute of Apiculture Liptovský Hrádok, SLOVAKIA. ** Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Damanhour University, Damanhour, 22516, EGYPT. E-mail: hossam.farag@agr.dmu.edu.eg [Abou-Shaara, H. F., Staron, M. & Čermáková, T. 2017. Impacts of sub-lethal doses of amitraz and tau-fluvalinate on some parameters of honey bee workers and drones. Munis Entomology & Zoology, 12 (2): 516-523] ABSTRACT: There are various chemicals available for the control of Varroa mites from honey bee colonies including amitraz and tau-fluvalinate. The optimum dose of these chemicals should give the highest Varroa control efficacy with minimal negative impacts on honey bees. The high doses are expected to have destructive impacts on honey bees. However, the impacts of the sub-lethal doses of these chemicals on honey bees are not well known. Therefore, the potential effects of the sub-lethal doses of these two chemicals on the survival of honey bee workers and drones, and on some body parameters were investigated. The study showed that the exposure of honey bee workers and drones to sub-lethal doses of chemical A (amitraz 125 mg/ml) or chemical B (tau-fluvalinate 240 mg/ml) had no clear negative impacts on their survival rates. Only tau-fluvalinate and not amitraz showed adverse impacts on measured body parameters of workers and drones, suggesting impacts on bee physiology. More insights into the potential impacts of tau-fluvalinate at different doses including the optimum one on bee physiology are advisable. KEY WORDS: Honey bees, Varroa, amitraz, tau-fluvalinate Honey bee colonies are impacted by many factors including biotic and abiotic ones. Varroa mites, Varroa destructor, are among the biotic factors which strongly impact honey bees in a passive way worldwide. These mites were considered as one factor responsible for colony collapse disorder (CCD) as mentioned by Rangel, Tarpy (2016). Many natural, mechanical or chemical methods to control Varroa have been developed and tested as reviewed by Abou- Shaara (2014). However, the use of chemical materials (i.e. acaricides) is almost the most effective way. One of the problems of using acaricides is the high residue level of them in bee products, for example amitraz in analyzed honey samples by Çobanoğlu, Tüze (2008). The chemicals approved for Varroa control are different among countries but chemicals contain either amitraz or tau-fluvalinate among the common ones. For example, chemicals contain tau-fluvalinate is common in North America (Frost et al. 2013) while those contain amitraz is used in some African and European countries. The resistance to these two acaricides by Varroa mites has been found to be different according to apiary location (Kamler et al. 2016). Applied acaricides within beehives have effects on Varroa mites and on honey bee as well. Unfortunately, evaluation the efficacy of acaricides against Varroa mites (Škerl et al. 2011; Semkiw et al. 2013) or other mites within colonies (Vandenberg & Shimanuki, 1990) gained more studies over evaluation of their effects on honey bees. Therefore, evaluating the potential impacts of acaricides on honey bees is essential.