I think it's significant that they did a sugar shake followed by alcohol wash and found that after the shake there were twice as many mites still on the bees as the number that was dislodged. In other words, the test itself is highly inaccurate. 

Obviously, this study contradicts previous ones. That's why I posted it. You can say that the older studies are correct, but this one seems to cast a significant doubt on them. Science is about testing and retesting, as opposed to accepting such and such as an established fact that cannot be subject to revision. 


100% correct Peter!,  Hence my comment.   Any beekeeper who has actual done the work and tested both methods knows this.  Despite my great fondness for Mr. Fischer,  his reliance on the bee book  flat baffles me.  I would have hoped by now everybody here would have used both methods at least a cpl of times and seen for themselves.  I am not even sure how anyone could possible conclude otherwise.   Try ether or alcohol on the bees you just sugar rolled and you will see.




In conclusion, our results showed that only the number of Varroa that fell over a 4-day period was significantly correlated with the actual mite population in beehives. 

I am not sure I would agree with the above either!  24 hour drop is way off,  I am sure of that.  What I did notice when using that method was that some days would see big drops.  Others almost none,  and of course the key to remember is its dead mites that drop (or groomed/unhealthy mites)  it appears to me that the drop increases on days the bees are not flying much.  And a week with good weather shows little drop.




Charles

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