REGARDING the warning by Adrian Waring, of the British Beekeeper's Association, on the threat posed by the Varroa mite (Letters, July 25).

The mite has for over a century, parasitised honey-bees in Asia which, over the years, have evolved methods of keeping down the numbers in their nests.

The females feed on the haemolymph (blood) of the bee which will be deformed and if the ever-growing number of mites isn't controlled, there will be thousands of deformed bees incapable of flying.

It is thought that the varroa mite was accidentally introduced into Europe some years ago and various chemicals help to control its numbers, but something unexpected has occurred. The mite passes on a virus which further depletes the number of bees until the colony collapses completely and dies out.

While honey is not affected by varroa, it is feared that ultimately, it will be in short supply as will beeswax for industrial use.

The implications are far-reaching, threatening the lifestyle of all, beekeepers and non-beekeepers alike, so a breakthrough is urgently needed in the fight against varroa.

ALBERT J MORRIS, Clement View, Nelson.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.