I must think differently to you! (tongue in cheek)
Varroa is important, but there is a lot more to beekeeping than varroa. Much of what went on then (pre varroa) has not changed. Mind you, skep keeping is not so 'usual' these days!
This book appears to date from a time when the King Bee theory was favoured (no female could possibly be so influential, obviously!! although surely the memory of QE1 should have been enough to disabuse that notion....)