Honey bees, Varroa mites and unintended consequences.

Beekeepers may have accidentally helped a plague of their charges

Few pests are more feared by apiarists than the aptly named Varroa destructor. This mite, originally a parasite of Apis cerana, the Asian honey bee, has plagued Apis mellifera, cerana’s western cousin, for only 50 years or so—having arrived in Europe via what was then the Soviet Union and subsequently spread to both North and South America. But a plague it is. Varroa is now so common that the mites are found in nearly every hive in the United States…

 

* THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN EVALUATED BY THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION. THIS IS NOT INTENDED TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT CURE OR PREVENT ANY DISEASE.