How to protect bees from varroa?

Protecting bees from varroa relies on three actions: measuring the infestation, adapting treatment to the colony, and checking the result. The choice of treatment depends in particular on the brood, the temperature and the conditions for the medicine used. An active hive can be infested: observing the bees is no substitute for a proper count.

What is Varroa destructor?

Varroa destructor is a parasitic mite of adult bees and brood. It feeds in particular on the tissues of the fat body and contributes to the transmission of viruses, including the deformed wing virus. It represents a major risk to colony health. These mechanisms are described in the scientific summary published in the ANSES Epidemiological Bulletin in 2025.

What are the effects of varroa on a hive?

An infestation can weaken bees, reduce their lifespan and compromise the renewal of the population. The associated viral infections can cause malformations, particularly of the wings, and contribute to colony collapse.

These signs are neither systematic nor specific to varroa. Their absence does not prove that a hive is lightly infested. In the event of unusual mortality or weakening, seek health advice; the OMAA system and its regional contacts allow these situations to be reported.

Protecting bees: what good practices should be adopted?

1. Regularly measure the infestation

Several methods can be used to estimate the parasitic pressure: counting natural mite drop on a board under the mesh floor, or measuring on a sample of bees using an appropriate method. They do not measure exactly the same thing and their results are not directly interchangeable.

Seek guidance to choose the protocol and interpret the results according to the season, the colony and the method. A count must be dated, linked to the hive and carried out under known conditions. The ANSES work on colony surveillance explains the limits of observation alone and the importance of monitoring the infestation.

2. Adapt treatment to the colony

The brood includes the eggs, larvae and nymphs. Its presence, particularly when capped, influences the choice and effectiveness of certain interventions. Temperature, honey harvest and the specific conditions of the medicine also matter. A regional calendar can guide monitoring, but it does not replace the assessment of each colony: the recommended health itineraries for 2026 in Brittany illustrate this approach at a regional level.

Natural origin does not mean absence of risk

Anti-varroa medicines may contain thymol or organic acids. They remain medicines, with conditions of use and precautions for bees and the user. It is therefore not relevant to systematically oppose “natural treatments” and “medicinal treatments”.

Check the specialty and its exact form

Consult the leaflet and the summary of product characteristics (SPC) in the official iRCP index of ANSES-ANMV. Check the full name, form, conditions of use and supply, contraindications, required protections and the rules concerning honey.

For example, Apiguard is a gel to be used in the hive, whereas API-BIOXAL 0,71 g/g is a powder for the hive: this powder should not be described as a ready-to-use solution. These examples explain differences in presentation; they do not constitute a recommended combination or a treatment protocol.

You can also find our category of products for beekeeping and bees. The choice of a product must remain guided by the condition of the colony and the conditions of its authorisation.

3. Check after the intervention

The end of a treatment is not enough to conclude that it worked. Carry out the checks recommended by the suggested monitoring, noting the hive, the date, the method, the result and the intervention in your register. A result is interpreted according to the protocol used, the period and the brood; mite falls during a treatment are not read in the same way as natural falls.

If the infestation remains a concern, contact your veterinarian or your regional beekeeping health body. Do not repeat an application and do not combine several products on your own initiative. The regional control plan and the official SPCs serve as reference points for reassessing the strategy.

Integrating complementary methods without improvising

Interventions on the brood can be part of integrated pest management, but they require a suitable protocol and technical mastery. The choice of substances and their possible alternation should be discussed with health advisors; simply alternating "natural" and "medicinal" is not a sufficient strategy against resistance.

Selecting colonies showing traits of resistance to varroa is also an avenue of research and breeding. However, a vigorous colony or a queen from a robust colony is not, on its own, proof of resistance. Monitoring the infestation remains necessary, as the ANSES review on the relationship between bees and varroa reminds us.

To remember: measuring, adapting and checking helps build a coherent control strategy. There is no universal dose, frequency or schedule suited to every hive.

Sources and references

• ANSES epidemiological bulletin: review on Varroa destructor, 2025.
• ANSES epidemiological bulletin: special issue on bee health, 2017 — monitoring and counting methods; older medicine lists do not serve as a reference for current authorisation.
• DRAAF Bretagne: control pathways against varroa, 2026 — regional recommendations, not to be automatically transposed to all apiaries.
• ANSES-ANMV: iRCP index of veterinary medicines, including the Apiguard and API-BIOXAL poudre SPCs mentioned above.
• Ministry of Agriculture: OMAA.