E360 - Molly Quade: Fighting Varroa with Fungi (360)

Honey bees continue to face shifting pressures from pests, and few are as relentless as varroa mites. In this episode, Jeff and Becky talk with Washington State University graduate student Molly Quade, whose research into fighting varroa with fungi offers a promising biological alternative to traditional mite treatments.

Molly studies entomopathogenic fungi—especially Metarhizium species—which naturally infect arthropods and are already used in agriculture for pest management. Her work centers on finding fungal strains that can tolerate the warm environment of a honey bee colony, one of the biggest barriers to making fungus-based varroa control viable. Thro...