Honey bees — Varroa destructor and a parable (part 2)

Read part 1 here

In other news, it turns out that bees, arguably an invader themselves, though not a very successful one anymore if they ever were, given their reliance on domestication, have themselves been invaded. By the varroa destructor, no less (who said scientific names couldn’t be evocative, eliciting a knowing chuckle or smirk). Varroa destructor is a species of parasitic mite that co-evolved with the Asian honey bee. The story is predictable from there: Asian honey bees can survive with these mites, but other honey bees that have…