Eva Crane wrote in 1978:

The story of Varroa should serve as a cautionary tale in respect of transporting queens
from one country to another, or indeed between different ecological regions within a
single country. If queens had not been transported from the Pacific coast of Asia to
northern Europe, Varroa could have been confined to Asia, where indeed it causes
great problems in beekeeping. The only gain from its spread across the world may be
the greater attention now given to devising control methods, and it is to be hoped that
this will in the end help beekeepers in Asia. Governments of many countries are
hastily amending their bee disease legislation in an attempt to prevent the importation
of Varroa into their own countries. If the beekeepers of the world will refrain from
importing bees or queens from infested areas (and from purchasing any that have been
imported), whether or not such imports are prohibited by law, the spread of Varroa
to countries now free from the mite can be prevented.

Crane, Eva. "Beekeeping round the World." Bee world 59.4 (1978): 164-167.
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