Floyd said:

If a chemical were to be added to the commercial miticide formulations that targeted the Varroa mite wouldn't it help both the farmer and the bee keeper?

Thank you Floyd. The idea is good, but very little if any varroa stays on the plant for long time. It is a scarce source of transmission/ spread of mites. The main routes for mite spread is drifting and robing bees, swarming, absconding, splitting infected hives, etc. The registered miticides for use in agriculture are registered to target mites on certain crops or animals, but they do not harm the crops or the animals.

For those miticides such as Apivar or Apistan that are registered for use in bees for varroa control, their active ingredients are used in agriculture. However more data collected to support the registration for use in a specific formulation that is safe for bees but kill mites.

We tested abamectin in the lab. It is highly toxic to bees and of course killed mites, too.  The trick is to find a  selective miticide  that kills mites but it is safe for bees at the applied dose and formulation  in bee hives.

Medhat Nasr
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

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