Some questions posed to me off list, which I thought may be of interest to
all:

>What accounts for the attrition?

Some natural mortality, some from grooming/biting by the bees.

>I'm not sufficiently familiar with  the mite life cycle to know its
longevity,
how long can it live under good conditions? without food? does it survive
reproduction?

Adult females can live for several months in the winter cluster.  Only a
few days without food.  Yes, can reproduce multiple times (an average of
nearly 3).

>There has to be a max number of mites, because there are a max number of
active
bee larva in a hive, the queen only lays so many eggs per day

Yep, but that max number is pretty high--enough to place a mite on every
adult in the hive, as well as plenty in the brood.

>What does ramp down look like? ie as the queen begins to lay fewer eggs in
the
fall, does the mite infestation of larva increase, remain the same, do we
see greater
hygienic behavior because of mite density in a cell?

Infestation rate would be expected to rise, but little actual data.

 >That is, if we have 2 mites infest a cell rather than 1, are we likely to
see a higher level of hygienic activity for that cell?

Yes, since a greater proportion of the pupae would be dying.

>What is the efficacy and safety of vaporized OA?

Efficacious, but with a degree of danger from inhalation.

> That is, if I dissolve OA in water and use a cool mist vaporizer to pump
it into the hive, does it have advantages or disadvantages in effectiveness
and safety, both to the bees and the beekeeper, over OA sublimation?

The above would be similar to a dribble.

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

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