There are practitioners of the most stringent form of treatment free beekeeping who specifically state they do not monitor or want to monitor for mites.  The president of a local group of hobbyists stumped me with a question exemplifying that philosophy after I spoke about the importance of monitoring for mites: "Why would I want to monitor if I do not intend to treat anyway?".  Not a bad question, if one wanted to go Darwinian, and one's colonies were isolated, in a perfect world.  The reality right now though is that such an approach tends to lead to multiple Darwin awards that one can display over empty hives.

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