It is known that 2-heptanone acts as a mite-repellant in beehives. However, pure 2-heptanone lasts only for maximum 2 days under beehive conditions due to its relatively high volatility. Previously, attempts had been made to slow down and lengthen the time for the release of the 2-heptanone by physically blending it with carriers, such as starch gel. However, the release of the ketone was still too rapid and the gel needed to be encaged. In this work, we synthesized dioxolanes of 2-heptanone with glycerol and separately fully hydrolyzed polyvinylalcohol to test these as mite-repellants. The glycerol based dioxolane was a liquid, while the polymer based dioxolane formed a crosslinked gel. The liquid dioxolane was characterized by IR, 1Hand 13C NMR spectroscopy, and the gel by IR and DSC. The release of the 2-heptanone from the two products was studied over 2 brood cycles, or 42 days, using an environmental chamber simulating beehive conditions. The amount of 2-heptanone was determined from samples of the headspace in the chamber and measured by GC.

Dioxolanes of 2-heptanone as mite repellants for the protection of bees

248th National Meeting (2014)

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