Chemical treatments have enabled a highly effective control of varroosis preventing great losses of colonies and allowing restoration of highly damaged apiaries to their former condition. Many acaricides of various chemical groups have been tested in several countries for their efficacy against Varroa jacobsoni. A range of substances have proved successful and have been approved for control in the infested countries with the appropriate modes of application. A reduction in the effectiveness of a widely used synthetic pyrethroid product, reported for the first time in Italy has been shown to be a consequence of the spread of Varroa drug resistant strains. This highlights the risk of basing control strategies on a single product and more generally on chemical treatment alone. Besides the required control effect, some of the drugs have also negative effects. The most important secondary effects include undesired effects on adult bees and brood and especially contamination of the beehive products. Among the hive products, the beeswax, as an effective residue store, has the central role in the residue accumulation process.