Use of costic acid, a natural extract from , for the control of , a parasite of the European honey bee.

Costic acid has been isolated from the plant and its efficacy against , a parasite of , the European honey bee, has been studied. Costic acid exhibited potent in vivo acaricidal activity against the parasite. Initial experiments showed that the compound is not toxic for human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) at concentrations of up to 230 micromolar (μM), indicating that costic acid could be used as a safe, low-cost and efficient agent for controlling varroosis in honey bee colonies.