A parasite, the varroa mite, which spreads disease “is a modern honey bee plague,” said Jeff Pettis, a USDA research leader on bees. At a House Agriculture subcommittee hearing, Pettis said USDA was looking for practices that beekeepers can use now, as well as long-term solutions such as breeding bees with increased resistance to the mite or that groom each other and remove the mites.
Separately, two officials from Bayer described research by their company. One possibility, said David Fischer, director of polllinator safety, is a plastic strip coated with a miticide that is placed at hive entrances. “It’s a way of constantly dosing the bees,” said Fischer. Researchers also are looking at a “bee repellent” that could be applied to keep bees out of areas with toxic substances.