The most common honey bee diseases are American foulbrood (AFB) caused by the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae, Chalkbrood caused by fungus Ascosphaera apis and diseases caused by parasitic mites such as Acarapis woodi, Varroa destructor. These diseases and pests not only cause economic loss but also cause ecological problems related to the role of honey bees, as the most important pollinators on Earth. Synthetic acaricides and antibiotics are used to keep the diseases and mites in control. Use of the drugs lead to the development of drug-resistant organisms, detrimental effect on non-target organisms and the residue problem in bee products. For this reasons, the need for alternative control methods has become compulsory in recent years. It has been known that some plant oils used widely in perfumery and food industry for flavor and smell have been used as repellent to certain insects, bactericide and fungicide. Therefore, intensive studies have been carried out on plants with anti-mites, antibacterial and antifungal potentials and these studies are still going on. Recently, studies in this area have shown that essential oils of plants such as thyme, cloves, mint, lemon grass, cinnamon, grapefruit, rosemary, marigold, are lethal to some mites, bacteria and fungi. In addition, it has been reported that some components, isolated from these plants such as sanguinarine, thymoquinone, capsaicin, carvacrol, citral, eugenol, thymol, show these effects on the organisms. As a result, in countries rich in biodiversity due to endemic plant species, the essential oils used in control of these diseases should be favored instead of or in combination with conventional drugs in integrated the disease management programs because of the lack of harmful effects of essential oils on non-target organisms and environment.

Varroa destructor mite poses a serious problem for the future of bee populations around the world. Today, there are many commercial drugs with the same and different active ingredients on the market to chemically control over of Varroa destructor. More frequent chemical applications for against Varroa destructor increases stress resilience, colony losses, loss of yield and residue problems in bee products. The scope of this project is aimed to determine the appropriate control method of Varroa by investigating the efficiency values of the evaporation and dropping methods of Oxalic acid. Experimental area were chosen three different apiaries. 28 colonies were determined in each apiary and equalization studies (area with brood, number of bees with bees, age of queen bees, honey, pollen, etc.) were carried out in these colonies. The determined colonies were randomly divided into 4 groups as 7 colonies. The first group is the control group, the second group is applying 2 g of oxalic acid by vaporizing, the third group is 4% oxalic acid 5 ml of sugar syrup (1:1) is dropped between the frames, and in the fourth group, the fight against a drug that is determined by the beekeeper in the market without interfering with the beekeeper. In order to evaluate the data, samples were taken for four periods, before and after spraying in spring and autumn. While the varroa measurements in the group of syrup, vapor and spraying were found to be statistically less than the control group, the syrup, vapor and spraying groups were statistically similar in terms of varroa measurements. Oxalic acid syrup application showed higher efficiency in spring and autumn than vapor application. There is no statistically difference between both two-application method reveals that it can be used as an effective and safe alternative to chemical control against varroa.