What do international experts advise on Varroa?

Researchers working on the AgriFutures Australia funded project Resilient beekeeping in the face of Varroa surveyed 164 international experts, from across the honey bee and pollination industry, seeking advice on varroa. Experts included beekeepers, researchers, apiary officers, and policy analysts from 21 countries around the world (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Position held by respondents

Key findings

The key findings are outlined below.

  • Education is the most important factor in slowing the spread of varroa.
  • In-person training and field days ranked highest in providing education about varroa.
  • Hive movement restrictions and avoidance of mass pollination events also ranked highly in slowing the spread.
  • The most effective means of preventing reinfestation after treatment or management are maintaining low infestation levels and timing. Other important factors include distance from other beekeepers, preventing robbing, removal of hives with high infestations, and coordination of management strategies with neighbouring beekeepers.
  • A national treatment and management strategy— involving guidelines such as timing and treatment rotationsas supported by 73% of experts for the prevention of reinfestation and/or increasing efficacy.
  • Three quarters of the experts surveyed have noticed resistance to one or more treatment.
  • More than 40% of experts reported regularly experiencing queen loss and reduction in colony strength from chemical treatments, but they were not asked to specify which treatments were the cause.
  • Breeding for varroa resistance was the top research priority suggested for Australia, followed by determining which treatments will be effective under what conditions.
  • The most important factors for breeding varroa resistant stock were demonstration of increased hive survival and decreased varroa infestation, followed by ensuring their suitability for commercial beekeeping.
  • Experts thought it was important that Australia continue efforts to prevent the introduction of Deformed wing virus.

Living with varroa

The team also interviewed 21 experts on varroa. Here’s what they had to say about how life will change with varroa:

  • Beekeepers will need to make time to monitor mite loads – varroa treatment can’t wait.
  • Bees will not be as healthy as they used to be.
  • Beekeepers won’t be able to leave their hives for weeks.
  • Beekeepers will need to find time to treat rather than chasing honey production constantly.
  • Beekeepers will have to work harder and it will be more difficult.
  • Beekeepers will need to understand their income streams and make tough decisions.
  • The number of hives that can be managed may reduce.
  • Colonies will need to be requeened more often.
  • Supplementary feeding may need to occur.
  • Beekeepers will have to worry about their strong colonies as well, as they are likely to end up with high mite loads.
  • Beekeepers will need to determine the % losses that are sustainable for their business.
  • Many beekeepers will leave the industry.
  • Those with poor beekeeping practices will lose their colonies and go out of business.
  • Australia will be different because of the year round brood and constant or unpredictable honey flows.
  • There will be challenges due to the diversity of the Australian climate.
  • Beekeepers will be more affected by their neighbouring beekeepers due to reinfestation.
  • Organic beekeeping will be much harder due to allowable treatments having temperature restrictions.
  • Residues in honey from varroa treatments may result in a drop in honey prices or difficulty in selling honey.
  • Beekeepers will need to know the difference between American foubrood, European foulbrood, and parasitic mite syndrome.
  • Things will change again if Deformed wing virus arrives.

While things will change and it will be challenging, it is important to remember that beekeepers around the world have learned to live with varroa. Global experts emphasised that Integrated Pest Management is the key.

More information

Click here to read the full report.


Acknowledgements

  • Resilient beekeeping in the face of Varroa. AgriFutures Australia. Nadine Chapman, Emily Remnant, Michael Holmes (University of Sydney), Jody Gerdts (Bee Scientifics, La Trobe University), John Roberts (CSIRO), Julia Grassl (University of Western Australia) and Sasha Mikheyev (Australian National University)
  • We thank the 164 anonymous experts who responded to our survey. We thank BartJan Fernhout (Arista Bee Research), Cameron Jack (University of Florida), Carlos Zevallos (Comvita New Zealand), Cory Stevens (Stevens Bee Co), David De Jong (University of São Paulo), David Yanke (Daykel Apiaries), Elizabeth Walsh (US Department of Agriculture), Emily Noordyke (NSW Varroa Development Officer, formerly Bee Informed), Jane Lorimer (New Zealand Beekeeping Inc), Mary Myerscough (University of Sydney), Michael Allsopp (Vredenburg Research Center), Michelle Taylor (New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research), Peter Neumann (University of Bern), Philip Lester (Victoria University of Wellington), Pike Stahlmann-Brown (Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research), Randal Oliver (Scientific Beekeeping), Richard Rogers (formerly Government of Nova Scotia and Bayer Crop Science), Robert Brodschneider (Unversitat Graz), Stanislav Nenov (NSW Varroa Development Officer), Steve Martin (Salford University), and Timothy Schaerf (University of New England) for meeting with the project team.
  • This article was peer-reviewed by John Roberts and Emily Remnant.

 

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