Finding More Effective Treatments in the Fight Against Varroa Mites

Finding More Effective Treatments in the Fight Against Varroa Mites By: Jessica Ryan Email: arspress@usda.gov Researchers from USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are helping bee keepers protect their colonies by studying the effectiveness of combining a widely used mite-killing pesticide with an agent that inhibits the ability of the destructive Varroa mite to tolerate the pesticide. Honey bees play a crucial role in U.S. agriculture, with the value of crops that require pollination estimated at more than $20 billion annually in the U.S.