> But varroa mites? No such pesticide is being proposed, nor has one been
> shown to work in even a lab setting. I smell vaporware.
To add to Peter's comments on this there has been a lab working on this in Aberdeen (the one in Scotland, not Idaho) collaborating with the National Bee Unit in York, and their interest continues. When I first heard of their plans I was curious and sceptical. Now I'm not, the technology works for Varroa and it seems can give a viable alternative treatment as long as the regulatory framework allows and the economics stack up.
Here is a press release on their 2010 paper on knock-down using a brood-food approach which Monsanto were working on at the same time:
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/3912/
And another from their commercial partner in 2012 on funding new gene targets:
http://www.vita-europe.com/news/new-money-for-research-to-halt-honey-bee-killer/
I understand it is going well.
Gavin
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