Bee-keepers are in for a challenging time as they wait for new ways of controlling the varroa honey bee parasite.
Bee scientists have confirmed the first signs of the varroa mite becoming resistant to one of the three chemical treatments used to control the pest here.
Mark Goodwin, who heads Plant and Food's bee research unit, warns that it is going to make the task of fighting the killer parasite even more time-consuming and costly.
It means bee-keepers can no longer assume the treatments they are using will work, so they are going to have to check and re-treat hives more regularly.
He says the most promising new varroa weapon is a mite-killing fungus discovered here that is being developed as a biological control.
However it is likely to be about two years before it is widely available.
Dr Goodwin warns that the new biological control may not provide the complete solution that bee-keepers are looking for to control varroa.
