You pulled out the strips, followed the label directions, completed the full application cycle. Mite counts dropped. Colony looks better.

Then next spring, mites bounce back harder. Summer brings higher loads than last year. By fall, you're treating again—maybe switching products because the old one "stopped working."

Here's what research reveals: the treatments aren't failing because they don't kill mites. They're failing because your colonies can't maintain the defenses that would prevent mites from exploding in the first place.

The mite problem is actually an energy problem wearing a parasite disguise.

This month's deep dive unpacks the research that explains why more treatment isn't the answer—and what actually breaks the cycle.

— The Primal Bee Team

Integrated Pest Management is all the rage in the beekeeping community - and many are starting with the wrong foundation entirely.

The reason most varroa treatments keep failing isn't because you’re using the wrong oxalic acid - it's biology.

Lewis Bartlett's groundbreaking research at the University of Georgia tested whether more frequent treatment solved the varroa problem. His team applied oxalic acid vaporization seven times over 35 days to 99 colonies—far more than typical protocols recommend.

The results challenged fundamental assumptions: even with this intensive treatment schedule, colonies failed to reduce mite loads below treatment thresholds when brood was present. Treated colonies showed mite populations essentially unchanged from baseline.

Bartlett's conclusion upends conventional wisdom: when brood is present, you can treat constantly and still not solve the problem. The mites hiding in capped cells survive treatment. The colony can't suppress population growth between applications.

You're bailing water without fixing the leak.

Then there's the resistance timeline. Chemical resistance to varroa treatments develops within 8-10 years of introduction. Fluvalinate arrived in 1987, lost effectiveness by the late 1990s. Coumaphos followed the same pattern. Amitraz—introduced in 2013 and currently the most widely used treatment—already shows resistance development.

The pool of effective chemicals shrinks. The pressure to treat intensifies. More applications accelerate resistance. And now you're on the treatment treadmill, running faster just to stay in place.

Here's the part that matters: resistance doesn't go away when you stop using the chemical. Studies from Uruguay found resistance persisting nine years after beekeepers completely abandoned the product.

Every treatment you apply today makes future treatments less effective—not just for you, but for every beekeeper in your region.

So what's really happening?

Research published in Scientific Reports discovered something surprising about honey bees: unlike other insects, bees show a mutually antagonistic relationship between heat shock response and immune function. When bees face thermal stress, their antimicrobial peptides drop by 40-60%. And when bees activate immune response, their heat shock proteins decline significantly.

Standard wooden hives force colonies to allocate 46-67% more energy to basic thermoregulation compared to well-insulated environments. That massive energy expenditure leaves insufficient resources for the grooming behaviors and immune responses that evolved to control parasites.

Your colony burning extra honey to compensate for poor insulation? Those bees can't simultaneously defend against varroa-transmitted viruses.

The mite problem stems from energy scarcity. Treating mites without addressing energy scarcity just resets the countdown timer.

After 18 years of beekeeping in northern Poland, Gosia knows what normal colony behavior looks like. This spring, she added a Primal Bee hive to her 60-colony operation—and watched something different unfold.

Despite one of the worst seasons her region had seen (cold spring, heavy rain), her Primal Bee colony built momentum. The bees started flying at 8-9°C when other colonies stayed clustered. They consumed roughly one-third less feed during active season. And when they initiated a natural supersedure mid-season, the colony maintained its strength throughout the transition.

"The colony's development in the Primal Bee hive was very dynamic," Gosia says. Four weeks after installing bees on foundation, the entire brood chamber was fully occupied—in weather that normally slows everything down.

Her observation? The system isn't just supporting survival. It's supporting thriving.

Reply with your answer—we'll share the most common responses in our next issue and address them with practical solutions.

Treatment season just wrapped. Mite counts dropped. Colonies look better. Success—for now.

But here's the question: if the treatment worked this year, why will you need to treat again next year? And the year after that?

The treatment treadmill continues until you recognize that fixing the hive fixes the colony. Energy-efficient colonies become partners in their own pest management rather than patients requiring constant pharmaceutical intervention.

Winter planning season is here—the quiet months when next year's results get decided.

We're here if you want to talk through what different could look like.

Stay warm out there,

The Primal Bee Team