To BEE-L Subscribers:  We have a new member of congress to represent our
district in Washington and will inform him about the plight of beekeepers
in this country.  Toward that end, a friend and I are furnishing him with
input about the importance of beekeeping and the extreme problems the U.S.
citizens face.
 
   As a part of that effort, I wrote a "Fact Sheet" about varroa mites and
the threat they pose to the nation.  Since others on the list also might
wish to approach those who represent them, I feel it appropriate to share
my effort.
 
   All who wish have my permission to use the following text and to modify
it in any way suitable for their particular circumstance.  Even those in
other countries might be able to adapt the text for those who represent
them.  The text we will provide our member of congress reads as follows:
 
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FACT SHEET:  HONEY BEES AND VARROA MITES
 
   The varroa mite (Varroa jacobsoni), an incredible animal in its own
right, was first described as a parasite on Apis cerana, the Asian honey
bee - its only host species at that time.  The general acceptance of
European honey bees (Apis mellifera) as the bee of commerce throughout most
of the world led to certain regions having both of those honey bee species
in close proximity.  Under the circumstances, perhaps a single varroa mite
(they are parthenogenic) succeeded in parasitizing an A. mellifera colony,
as first noticed in central China in 1956.  The rapid spread of that
parasitic mite among European honey bee colonies since then has been
phenomenal.
 
   In a 1993 book (Mobus, B. and C. de Bruyn.  THE NEW VARROA HANDBOOK.
Northern Bee Books, Mytholmroyd, England) one can read:  (p. 32)  "The
spread of the mite is a relentless advance within a country..." and (p. 31)
"The constant redistribution of mites within an infected country through
drones, drifting, and silent robbing is sufficient to re-infect all
hives..."  In the less than five decades since varroa mites adapted to
European honey bees, no infested nation has stopped the spread.  Other
details of the varroa mite's spectacular worldwide spread need not be
treated here.
 
   In the U.S. a Florida beekeeper apparently illegally imported some
queens for breeding stock in about 1984, with the varroa mite included but
unnoticed.  That introduction followed on the heels of an invasion by
another debilitating parasitic mite species (the tracheal mite) a few years
earlier.  No one recognized that a potentially catastrophic problem existed
in the U.S. until 1987, when some honey bee colonies collapsed in Wisconsin
and Florida.  Varroa mites appeared in Ventura County already in 1989 - the
first official record within California.
 
   William Bushing and I published a summary of the spread of this mite in
the United States (BEE CULTURE - June 1996).  In less than 10 years varroa
mites ravaged bee colonies in all states but Hawaii.  Both feral (wild) bee
colonies and commercial hives throughout our nation have collapsed with
time unless treated.
 
   Nine-tenths of a colony's mites reproduce within sealed brood cells,
meaning we have no "quick fix" for the problem.  Instead, to control mites
one must insert miticide strips into all colonies at great expense, keep
them there for about six weeks, and then remove them.  To produce
chemical-free honey, they have to do that manipulation at times when honey
stores do not accumulate.  That practice proves especially difficult for
Southern California beekeepers, who must employ that routine twice a year.
 
   Not just beekeepers but all Americans suffer from this scourge.
Backyard gardeners in many parts of the country suddenly find little or no
fruit set on their trees.  Commercial growers now must pay very high fees
to beekeepers for pollination services, since beekeepers must expend up to
$50 annually just to keep each colony alive.  An additional problem for the
future:  in some regions of the world, varroa mites have already become
resistant to the only miticide currently approved for use in the U.S.
 
   The severity of this problem for the U.S. public, thus, cannot be
overemphasized.
 
                                Adrian M. Wenner - 23 January 1997
 
Adrian M. Wenner                         (805) 893-2838 (UCSB office)
Ecol., Evol., & Marine Biology           (805) 893-8062  (UCSB FAX)
Univ. of Calif., Santa Barbara           (805) 963-8508 (home office & FAX)
Santa Barbara, CA  93106
 
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*  "THIS LIFE may be the only chance you'll ever get to show what     *
*   you can do."                                      Pot-Shots #6923 *
*          Copyright, Ashleigh Brilliant --- used with permission     *
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