One point that has not been made is that the
honeybee as host for varroa is an evolving
relationship. If it we not for us humans re-introducing
the honeybee, the habitat for the varroa would have
been decimated and the mite would not persist. This of
course at the expense of the honeybee and the
beekeepers.
 
        At this point varroa is too efficient to its
own good! I would expect that the population dynamics
of varroa in various regions will fluctuate wildly from
year to year due to the fact that varroa ends up
killing the host hive, thus destoying its habitat. Not
a highly evolve dynamic.
 
        ?Does anyone know what the mite population
dynamics have been in Europe from year to year within
regions?
 
        From an avolutionary point of view, varroa in
conjunction with the honeybee would eventually evolve a
relationship that would permit both to survive or not.
In the surviving relationship the host would not be
killed. As beekeepers we are getting into the mix.
Time will tell if we can contribute effectively to the
process from the honeybee's perspective.
 
        At this point we started and magnified the
problem!
 
        Jim Moore