The mites are fighting back.

Beekeepers are being urged to look into new ways of combating varroa, as the mite’s resistance to the common chemicals used to fight it, spreads throughout New Zealand.

Varroa has become increasingly resistant to chemical treatments in Northland, and in areas of the Waikato too.

The National Beekeepers Association says beekeepers are partly to blame for the rapid increase in varroa resistance, because too many of them have ignored official advice, to use multiple miticides.

National Beekeepers Association executive Maureen Maxwell says using a single chemical family to fight varroa, as many beekeepers have done, is a recipe for resistance.

“We were advised that they have got resistance in the United States. We were advised that that would happen because of course insects evolve so very quickly.

“When varroa first hit, our arsenal of registered chemicals that the government had registered and that we were allowed to use in our hives, was quite small.

“There were a couple (of chemicals) that were very efficient and people learnt how to use them, and just kept using them, instead of exploring and registering other methods, and using organic methods that would slow any resistance down.” 

Maureen Maxwell says both the government and farmers should learn a lesson from varroa’s rapid resistance – that it is vital to have a variety of methods and treatments at your disposal.