Scientists breed fungus that fights Varroa mites

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 "Washington State University entomologists joined forces with an Olympia, Wash.-based business and others in a two-year effort to breed a strain of Metarhizium, a common beneficial fungus found in soils, to work against the mites.

Metarhizium anisopliae has been used for decades to combat numerous soil-dwelling pests around the world, including the sugarbeet root maggot and the Japanese beetle, according to the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service."

"The team’s next tasks will be to develop delivery methods for beekeepers to apply the fungus in hives and get approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to use it in agriculture, according to the university."

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