{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T04:52:57Z","timestamp":1781671977002,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":114,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781568000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Insects"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Honeybee colonies are affected by bacterial, fungal, viral, microsporidian, and parasitic diseases that impair brood viability, adult survival, productivity, and beekeeping sustainability. Conventional control relies on sanitary measures, antibiotics where permitted, and synthetic acaricides, but these approaches are constrained by residues, resistance, regulation, and variable field performance. This narrative review critically evaluates essential oils as alternative or complementary tools against American foulbrood, European foulbrood, varroosis, nosemosis, chalkbrood, and mite-associated viral pressure. Evidence indicates that thymol, carvacrol, eugenol, cinnamaldehyde, and related constituents can show marked antibacterial, antifungal, acaricidal, antioxidant, and host-supportive activity under controlled conditions. However, most bacterial, fungal, and nosemosis data remain laboratory-based, and direct antiviral applications against honeybee viruses are not field validated. The strongest practical evidence concerns thymol-based control of Varroa destructor, where efficacy depends on formulation, release rate, temperature, colony status, and safety margins. Essential oils should therefore be considered components of integrated honeybee health management, not substitutes for established measures. Future studies should prioritize chemical standardization, dose\u2013response testing, colony-level trials, brood and queen safety, sublethal behavior and physiology, gut microbiota, residues, and reproducible delivery systems.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/insects17060634","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T03:27:21Z","timestamp":1781666841000},"page":"634","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Major Honey Bee Diseases and Possibilities to Control Them with Essential Oils"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3618-5898","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yordan V.","family":"Hristov","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department \u201cSpecial Branches\u201d, Institute of Animal Science, Kostinbrod, Agricultural Academy, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-7962-0422","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Koycho","family":"Koev","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Trakia University, 6000 Stara Zagora, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tsvetan","family":"Tsvetanov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department \u201cSpecial Branches\u201d, Institute of Animal Science, Kostinbrod, Agricultural Academy, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3486-1514","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ralitsa","family":"Balkanska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department \u201cSpecial Branches\u201d, Institute of Animal Science, Kostinbrod, Agricultural Academy, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"1","article-title":"The value of honey bees as pollinators of US crops in 2000","volume":"128","author":"Morse","year":"2000","journal-title":"Bee Cult."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1612","DOI":"10.1038\/s41559-024-02460-2","article-title":"Insufficient pollinator visitation often limits yield in crop systems worldwide","volume":"8","author":"Turo","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nat. 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