In June 1988, Frank Robinson, chairman of Florida's Varroa Task Force and secretary-treasurer of the American Beekeeping Federation, suggested:



A. Varroa will eventually spread throughout this country.



B. Eradication isn't possible and the best that can be hoped for is to maybe slow advance of the pest.



C. Chemical treatments are not going to achieve a "mite free" status


D. The longest possible interval between treatments and the least numbers of colonies that are treated should be the goal of any control program.



E. Residues in honey and/or wax may be unavoidable

F. As far as possible, the normal movement of colonies, queens and package bees must be a goal of any program.


In other words, quarantines were ruled out because beekeepers need to move the bees about freely. They would fail in any case, to prevent the complete ubiquity of Varroa, which would then prove to be ineradicable. The problem would ultimately become chemical residues.

All of this has been borne out. 30 years later, we find Varroa in most hives. They cannot be eradicated. Residues of miticides are present at alarmingly high levels and have been implicated as a possible cause for the honey bees' decline, as these substances are potent insecticides as well.

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