A Biological Approach for Management of Greater Wax Moth, Galleria mellonella L. Using Bacillus thuringiensis

Abstract

Bee keeping has taken a shape of promising enterprise and also becoming popular as one of the components in mixed farming systems. Galleria mellonella L. damage is the major biological constraint in the beekeeping industry. Microbial agent Bacillus thuringiensis and its products have been tried widely against G. mellonella. Our previous study has detected six potential bacterial isolates viz., C7, A3, A7, N12, F2 and M2 active against G. mellonella. The effectiveness of these isolates on the stored honey combs against the G. mellonella was evaluated and the safety of these potential bacterial isolates was tested against honey bees and silk worms. The protection range provided by the isolates varied from 89.5-44.3 per cent and the isolate M2 (89.52%) and standard HD-1 (88.89%) rendered very good protection to the combs from wax moth damage. All the six isolates tested were found safe to honey bee adults and also to larvae indicating that the isolates can be safely deployed under field conditions. Two of the six isolates tested viz., M2 and N12 were toxic to silk worms. The study demonstrated the potentiality of Bt isolates against G. mellonella and their safety to the honey bees and silkworms.