>`...the debris seems to be a big issue with me. Why couldn't I establish
> a 72 hour count using the sum of three 24 hour counts?

The standard for comparison is 24 hrs, but almost nobody goes exactly 24hrs.

If you run longer -- we go up to two weeks on a single test -- or if you do
several consecutive tests, then you just estimate the total number dropped,
and divide the total days sampled to get back to a 24hr average.

> This indicates using a checkerboard it probably is a requirement to
> get a 72 hour sample.

It is easy to make this job too technical and difficult, and IMO, that is
why many do not bother.  They find it too daunting.  In fact, it is very
simple.   For non-scientists, this isn't rocket surgery.  Once you get a
feel for it, it is very simple and easy, and needs nothing fancy in the way
of equipment or technique.  Unless you have a heavy mite load, and are doing
research, a checkerboard is simply an unnecessary distraction from the
simple decision a beekeeper must make, and that is; are there a lot of
mites, or only a very few?

72 hrs is not actually a standard for comparison.  24 hrs is.  3 days is
just, roughly speaking, the _minimum_ period necessary to get a reasonably
large sampling period and to reduce the effects of weather, disturbances,
and other transient effects that might distort a very short term test.
Also, in less than 3 days on a natural drop, you may not have enough mites
to count, if there are not many.  Longer is better, up to a point.  We
figure two weeks is that point, but it is not carved in stone.

More good news: If you have a serious mite problem, then you won't have to
count, and the mite load will be obvious, debris or no debris.  Accuracy of
count is of much greater interest to those who are doing research than for
the rest of us.  For most of us, after we learn to recognize mites and
easily distinguish them from debris, all that is required is a glance at a
board that has been in a week or so.  Our counting process, rather than
being "1, 2, 3,..." is more like, "That hive's OK, that one is OK, that one
we'll watch, that one is pretty bad, and that one needs help right now"...

If you have trouble seeing mites, which we all do at first, especially when
we do not have any :) then a pair of drug store glasses (2x?) can be very
useful, or a loupe can help).  Debris is only a problem -- in my
experience -- when there are too few mites to worry about.  We often leave
boards in for as long as two weeks and can still read them.

Stimulated by the recent BEE-L discussion, I've improved the links to
illustrated discussions of how we do mite drops on my Selected Topics Page.
Check out "Mites and Mite Treatments" at
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/menus/topics.htm if you are interested.

allen
A Beekeeper's Diary: http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::