Video published on May 8, 2013

Interview to the beekeeping technician Alvaro Acuña

The Provincial Department of Livestock Development held briefings on prevention and cure of Varroa bee endeavors to protect and prevent loss of honey production. The activities will be met through Farms Program Coordination Ministry of Production and will take place in Palma Sola, Humahuaca, San Pedro, Palpalá, San Salvador de Jujuy and Yuto, through a planned schedule from April 12 to 19 , 2013

Vita (Europe) Limited has begun the pan-European registration process for HopGuard®, a varroa control treatment that uses natural food-based compounds and is suited for year-round use. The registration process for Europe is expected to be complete in the second half of 2014 and beekeepers should then have a new, highly effective, versatile weapon against the varroa mite which has taken such a toll on honeybee colonies.

Farm program coordination of the Ministry of Production, said that in this campaign against Varroa beekeepers should apply the "post-harvest acaricide," according to the population curve for the location of their apiaries. "The active for this year will Amitraz, to continue in this way with the same rotation of drugs across the province. It is important to bear this indication in order to avoid the emergence of drug resistance, "said the official information

The two bee colonies maintained by the Princeton BEE Team died two weeks ago due to a parasite infestation in the hive. The cause is most likely the Varroa mite, a parasite that sucks bees’ blood, Penn State researcher Elina Lastro Nino said after examining the hives. The Varroa mite is by no means unique to the Princeton area, and is the number-one killer of bee colonies, BEE Team founder Michael Smith  said.

A private company established in Technopark International City of Knowledge in Panama, together with the Centre for Tropical Apicultural Research (CINAT) of the National University of Costa Rica, began research to combat infestations of Varroa destructor in hives naturally not toxic, applying a new technology, APSETM, environmentally responsible and BioFotoSonica based biophotonics. The technology was developed by Engeenuity SA and made available to researchers CINAT, and is portable reed vibrations emitted low-intensity infrared pulses, which inhibit the reproduction of harmful microorganisms.

The Coordinator of Organizations of Farmers and Ranchers (COAG) has criticized the ban by Andalusia and Extremadura an acaricide to combat varroa, a parasite that attacks bees, considering that "threatens the viability" of the beehives .

The past few years have been tough for bee colonies almost everywhere. For example, colony collapse disorder was a massive problem in the United States in 2007. But this year has proven disastrous for honeybees and their keepers in Switzerland. A study of a thousand Swiss hives shows that  50 per cent of the bees did not survive the winter of 2011-2012. There are many hypotheses suggesting why so many bees have died – from a build-up of pesticides to a loss of feeding area diversity, as well as climate change, fungal infections or even electromagnetic waves. However, researchers think the Varroa mite is the biggest culprit.

Watch in this video the varroa mite monitoring