Hi All;
  I raise blackberries and must control several different types of mites or lose my harvest, which has me thinking that the Varroa mite could be killed in the field before it ever gets on the honeybees. I use both selective and broad spectrum miticide formulations', but as far as I know none of them target the Varroa mite, at least I have never seen it listed on the labels. 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? Abamectin sprayed pre bloom may help, agricultural oil for dormant spray but that doesn't help field crops, adding a surfactant to bifenthrin pre bloom could be some help, but what about full bloom, Acramite helps with the mites that affect my berries but is very selective and I doubt if it would kill Varroa mites. Anyway, the point is if commercial miticide manufactures' would also include the Varroa mite as a target, beekeepers might get some relief.
Cheers        

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