> Let's be clear on this - the talk of using RNAi to kill varroa mites is
nothing but speculative talk - PR misdirection.  

Or not?:

http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.100
3035

Abstract
The mite Varroa destructor is an obligatory ectoparasite of the honey bee
(Apis mellifera) and is one of the major threats to
apiculture worldwide. We previously reported that honey bees fed on
double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) with a sequence
homologous to that of the Israeli acute paralysis virus are protected from
the viral disease. Here we show that dsRNA
ingested by bees is transferred to the Varroa mite and from mite on to a
parasitized bee. This cross-species, reciprocal
exchange of dsRNA between bee and Varroa engendered targeted gene silencing
in the latter, and resulted in an over 60%
decrease in the mite population. Thus, transfer of gene-silencing-triggering
molecules between this invertebrate host and
its ectoparasite could lead to a conceptually novel approach to Varroa
control.

Yael Garbian., Eyal Maori.¤, Haim Kalev, Sharoni Shafir, Ilan Sela*
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of
Agriculture, Food and Environment, Rehovot, Israel

Editor: David S. Schneider, Stanford University, United States of America
Received February 21, 2012; Accepted September 9, 2012; Published December
20, 2012

Kind regards,

Ghislain De Roeck,
Belgium.

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