Hello Tom,

>I have no problem with using the correct tools in fighting varroa, or any
>other pest, but when my sword bends in my hands what can I do?.

Fashion  a new sword or re-forge your old one!

>The problem is that the tools we are using to fight varroa are making the
>enemy invulnerable. It seems to me to be a case of, 'we are damned if we
>treat and damned if we don't'.  So can anybody tell me what do we do next?.
>Or is there nothing we can do but wait for a 'silver bullet', and hope that
>it arrives whilst there are still bees to treat.

By carefully attending to informed opinion and acting on it, I hope to be
part of the making of the silver bullet.


>I, in common with Irish beekeepers, am presently awaiting the first strike
>of varroa in my apiaries. I daresay that beekeepers in Australia, New
>Zealand and Hawaii are doing the same thing. I am using the approved
>chemical to detect the appearance of the pest. But if I am fighting a
>resistant pest, as is now rapidly appearing to be the case, then the battle
>is lost before it starts.

I readily understand your apprehension:- Varroa was first diagnosed (4th Apr 1992) in the
UK at Cockington apiary - the experimental apiary of South Devon Beekeepers
(my local association) which is run on exemplary lines.  This was my first year as a beekeeper
and I felt a terrible sense of hopelessness.  I have been impressed by the
diligence and optimistic attitude of my colleagues in adopting a variety of control methods,
chemical and physical (e.g. bait drone-comb).  Varroa is a pain in the arse but like many other
bee-afflictions I believe it will be contained by good husbandry rather than being eradicated.

>It is not in my nature to sound so negative,

You sound pretty normal in the circumstances

>But I am ever hopeful

That's my boy!

>...it would seem that nothing short of a
>miracle will do.

Penicillin was repeatedly described as miraculous when it was first used.
I wouldn't care to argue about how the Deity works his wonders!

Just sucking my first egg,

Regards,
Bernie Duggan
White Rock
Ogwell Cross
Denbury
Devon
England