>>http://bermudasun.bm/main.asp?SectionID=24&SubSectionID=270&ArticleID=48672
>
>I met Randolph years ago when i started to attend national conventions
>hoping to share the ways beekeepers were coping with varroa. Some of us were
>very aware back then of the ways Europe was using.

I visted Randolph in May 2009 when I was sailing up from Sint Maartin in the Caribbean to Canada and laid over in Bermuda, waiting for good weather to make the crossing to New York.  Having met him often at US meetings over the years, and having been told to come by if ever in Bermuda, I called him up and he dropped everything to give me and my companion a tour of his operation.

He is definitely a knowledgeable beekeeper and well aware of the various bee pests and diseases.  Looking back, I am thinking that there must have been varroa in some hives at that time for things to get to this point at present.  It usually takes several years for varroa to cause severe damage from a standing start.  I never thought to look.

As fot whether they have treatment options, I don't know.  I should think there are some methods available.

I wondered about the accuracy of this quote from the article:

--- begin quote ---

For Mr. Furbert, who maintains more than half of the island’s bee hives — estimated at around 375, it is heartbreaking. At his property in Hamilton Parish he has around 100 ‘dead’ hives stacked in a neat pile.

“My only question is ‘do I have a bonfire now or wait until November 5,’” he says.

The dead hives are stacking up across the island. Out of 270 inspected by the Department of Conservation Services earlier this month, 159 were dead.

--- end quote ---

I see no reason to destroy equipment that has been depopulated by varroa, unless moths have taken over.

It is often puzzling and sometimes amusing to read the press reporting on bee matters.

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