The high turnover of the apiculture sector in recent years reaffirms its great importance in the Brazilian economic scenario. One of the major obstacles to the production of honey is the wax moths found throughout the national territory. An aromatic plant of great importance is the Zingiber officinale, is a perennial species, native to India, but cultivated in almost all Brazil and its rhizome found frequently in all the national regions. Known radically as ginger. The objective of this study was to analyze the insecticidal and repellent activity of the essential oil of Zingiber officinale on Achroia grisella Fabricius, 1794 (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 (Hymenoptera: Apidae), for control of insects, without harming the hive and its products generated. The LC50 mortality values found for A. grisella of the 4th instar in the 06 and 12 hour intervals were 0.392 and 0.161 mg/cm2, respectively. While for A. mellifera adults it was 0.080 mg/cm2, with values 2.01 times lower than that of moth larvae. The TL50 response time found with the LC50 concentrations for the moths was 64.6 h and 2.94 h for LC95. In all treatments with oil on caterpillars and bees, repellency was observed. The minimum values found were 90% for A. grisella and A. mellifera. Today, Brazil occupies the 8th position in the ranking of major exporters of honey, and the need to control this pest without compromising the final product, evidences an excellent potential to become a leader in exports. With only one publication on the control of A. grisella with vegetal extracts and essential oils, together with the excellent performance of the oil as insecticide and repellent for the wax moths, indicates the great potential of application that this oil has. The use of the essential oil of Z. officinale has been shown to be promising as an insecticide and repellent for the species A. grisella, and it can be applied to the combs to be stored during the period between the apiary and the wax moths, guaranteeing the quality and asepsis of the products generated in the apiary in its storage until the distribution to the consumer.
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