<Turning varroa destructor into an endangered species should be like
shooting fish in a barrel.>

I have to disagree here.  Organisms are only pests when they prove to be
extremely resilient and resistant to irradication.  There are too many
variables to consider to make it an easy fix.  We want to irradicate
varroa, but we want to do so cheaply, easily, without harming the bees
who's vulnerable young they live on, and not impact honey production or
pollination all at the same time.  Oh and we want it to be a solution that
everyone will buy into since you'll need to irradicate them in everyone's
hives to be rid of them (not to mention the feral population).  The strong
desire of a few people isn't likely to bring about those kinds of results.

As a side note, eliminating varroa would certainly make our jobs a lot
easier, which may actually make it less profitable in the end.  The less
skilled the labor is the less valuable the service is.  If pollination and
honey production becomes easy (relatively speaking that is), more people
are likely to do it for less money.

I'm sure someone else has made similar points, but I needed a break so felt
like adding my 2 cents.  As frustrating as beekeeping has been for me, I
kind of relish the challenge.

Jeremy
West Michigan

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