>Pardon my skepticism, but how is this success measured.

No apologies necessary, Pete--I admire skepticism!  I measure by the mite
levels of colonies, as determined by alcohol wash.  First check is of
potential breeders in March--mite levels have been going down for some
years.

Second is in mite levels in late summer, and what degree of treatment is
required to keep them below 2%.

So, compared to previous years.

>And what is the "normal distribution" to which you refer?

Some colonies keep mites to very low levels, a few colonies suffer from
high levels, although no where near as high as in previous years.  What I'm
interested in are the majority (within a standard deviation of the mean).


-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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