>> The question then is: how many generations 
>> will take varroa to develop resistance using 
>> label doses vs home made recipes?

> As best I can tell, resistance... is a function of random 
> mutation and selective pressure.  There must first be 
> a mutation (which is random, but may be favored by 
> epigenetic effects), so unpredictable.  There are likely 
> some resistant mites already out there.

I'm confused here... haven't we already seen an Amitraz-resistant mite
population arise, and didn't it arise pretty quickly?

Beekeepers who (mis)used Taktic were being forced to "up the dose" back in
the 2009 timeframe as best as I can remember.  This was just the advice of
one mid-sized east-cost migratory pollinator to others, and it was offered
with the understanding that violating confidences about such an issue would
be viewed as betrayal.  The Taktic users felt that they were getting the
jump on what they viewed as a glacially slow pesticide approval process, and
felt that they were protecting the livelihoods of themselves and their
employees.  (The eventual approval of Amitraz seems to have vindicated their
position.)

In contrast, despite the fairly widespread use of Mavrik (liquid Fluvalinate
[Apistan], much cheaper than the Apistan strips) by the same demographic of
stressed-out mid-size migratory guys, resistance to Fluvalinate did not
appear for nearly a decade, and seemed to only appear as a result of the
alternating with Check-Mite strips, creating the multiply-resistant mites?

Regardless, the physiological attack of the organic acids is not likely to
become less effective through a mutation/selection process, now is it?   I
wish there were more focus on physiology, and less focus on nerve agents, as
nerve agents always "create" a resistant population.

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