Steve Riley: "The Honey Bee Solution to Varroa"

Steve is a member of the “Path to Varroa-resistance in the UK” team, led by Emeritus Professor Stephen Martin. They launched the education and science website: www.varroaresistant.uk in April 2023. He is the current Chair and Education Officer at Westerham Beekeepers, a club in the south-east of England in their 7th year of looking for and finding Varroa-resistant honey bees. This presentation focuses on the hygienic defences that honey bees are deploying against Varroa and how beekeepers can identify, monitor and select for these traits. Research from Varroa-resistant colonies in the UK is shared, together with up-to-date science on the biology of how Apis mellifera honey bees control Varroa populations to reach a host-parasite equilibrium without resort to chemical miticide treatments. The seasonality of these hygienic behaviours will be discussed in what is the long-term solution to the Varroa problem. Steve is the author of the “The Honey Bee Solution to Varroa” book.