Book: The Honey Bee Solution to Varroa

A Practical Guide for Beekeepers Steve Riley Northern Bee Books (1st ed. 2024) Softback / 140 Pages ISBN 978-1-914934-77-3 "This remarkable book presents a practical, chemical-treatment-free, solution to the Varroa problem. The author explains that in colonies that are surviving without treatments, the workers are controlling Varroa not by killing the adult mites, but by detecting and chewing out mite-infested brood cells to interrupt the mites' reproduction. This book is a first-rate guide on how to identify mite-resistant colonies using simple tools: open-mesh screens and insert boards. The beekeeper learns thereby which of his/her colonies have genes that should be propagated in a program of treatment-free beekeeping." Tom Seeley – Author of The Lives of Bees The Honey Bee Solution to Varroa explains the practical steps beekeepers can take to identify and select for easily observable Varroa-resistant traits in their colonies. The science behind the bees’ mechanisms for controlling their mite populations is explained, in what is a bee-led solution to the biggest challenge facing the European honey bee. Steve Riley is the current Chair and Education Offi cer at Westerham Beekeepers, a club in the south-east of England. He is a member of the “Path to Varroa-resistance in the UK” team that launched the education and science website www.varroaresistant.uk in April 2023. He presents on “Identifying Varroa-resistance Traits” to beekeeping associations around the UK, including sessions and seminars at the BBKA Spring Convention and National Honey Show. This title a WINNER OF A SILVER AWARD at the Apimondia Congress 2025.