After an interest day listening about Varroa where, if there was a buzzword (or TLA) it'd probably be "IPM".
After listening to the guy from Vita in particular, I get the distinct impression that new chemical treatments aren't likely to be forthcoming and that in some respects we were "lucky" (depending on your point of view I guess) to get Apistan and Bayvarol in the first place. While resistance to thymol based treatments is still thought to be unlikely, it was conceded that it was possible.
A talk by Dr Dave Chandler I found particularly interesting though as he drew parallels between greenhouse agriculture and Beekeeping and the current use of "biological IPM" there to deal with pesticide resistant pests or with crops where the use of pesticides wasn't ideal.
What's biological IPM? Basically the use of "agents" that predate on the pests you want to be rid of, either using other bugs or in the case of varroa, Fungi.
Apparently Varroa is particularly vulnerable to certain types of fungi which appear, in most cases, to be harmless to bees and to us. There are some studies already done apparently, but I've not yet had a chance to track them down.
Given funding here has apparently been pulled, but continues in the US, EU and elsewhere is this our next best chance of remaining on top of Varroa?
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