The Varroa Treatment Adherence Issue
- Posted
DISCLAIMER: The blog below is generally created from the research listed in the “Referenced Material” section. This is not my research. All credit is given to these studies and researchers who are helping beekeepers better understand how we can improve our management practices.
Treatments, treatments, treatments
Based on guidance about Varroa, a beekeeper might begin to believe that keeping bees is really all about treatments, and maybe more for commercial or academic types figure out. Even with treatments for the last 50 years we are still losing an increasing amount of honeybees annually, current treatments that are noticeably failing, home grown treatments popping up, limited research on how applications are really working in the hives and even less research on how these treatments compound with environmental toxins such as pesticides and herbicides to harm sensitive parts of the bee such as their sensory organs required for successful foraging. It seems comical how beekeepers have to suit up and protect their hands, eyes and lungs from treatment exposure but I’ve yet to see a bee with a gas mask on protecting their eyes and antennae.
Below is the abstract from a study called “A large-scale study of Varroa destructor treatment adherence in apiculture”, published in the Entomologia Generalis on January 2025 by Thomas A. O’Shea-Wheller, Asia Hall, Kirsty Stainton, Victoria Tomkies, Giles E. Budge, Selwyn Wilkins, and Ben Jones. As you can tell from the abstract alone, the method and timing of treatments are as important to get right as the treatment type itself. This brings into question the real long term success of any treatment centered solution to Varroa and will hopefully add pressure to acquiring a better understanding of how unmanaged colonies are surviving without them.
“Abstract: Adherence to treatment regimens is a key predictor of prognostic outcomes in clinical and veterinary medicine. Despite this, a paucity of data exists regarding adherence practices in apiculture, a setting in which the use of preventative and therapeutic medications is widespread. This is especially pertinent when considering management of the ectoparasite Varroa destructor, which remains the primary health concern faced by beekeepers globally. In order to be effective, Varroa treatments must be applied to colonies during defined periods, corresponding to key etiological junctures in the mite’s life cycle. Failure to adhere to treatment guidelines can thus adversely influence treatment efficacy, however the scope of this issue is poorly understood. Here, utilizing data collected from a national annual survey of beekeepers in England and Wales, we explore the relative impact of Varroa treatment adherence upon colony health outcomes. Results demonstrate that lower overwinter colony losses are predicted by correct treatment temporality, but not by product application alone, supporting the epidemiological significance of application timing. Notably, our data also indicates that over one third of beekeepers engaged in at least some level of non-adherence, highlighting the ubiquity of the issue. These findings suggest that Varroa treatment non-adherence is a substantial driver of large-scale colony mortality and indicate that further work is needed to elucidate its underlying causes.”