> I can only say that they need to react sooner, and/or repeat treatments to account for brood emergence. What I am starting to say is what I said originally - "Thresholds are Bunk".

That is an interesting perspective and true in the context given, however I think we all have a threshold at which we consider the situation to be an emergency calling for immediate action whereas below that we may feel it prudent choose to wait a while and fit the application of the control into our routine to suit our weather and convenience, especially if we run many yards.  Seeing one mite in  three-day drop in the fall is not like seeing one mite in a three day drop in the spring.  

I agree that one-size-fits-all thresholds published by extension services may be misleading to some, but at the same time they do provide a yardstick by which to judge our own situation.  

The big problem in my view is that these guidelines assume that the beekeeper is able to do accurate sampling and that is  very seldom the case in my experience.  

I did sampling province-wide for the government, working in the yards with beekeepers and found even my own sampling was questionable and I learned a lot in the process of doing hundreds or thousands of washes.  

Alcohol sitting in the truck overnight was cold and did not release all the mites as well as the same alcohol in the afternoon, and that was not the only variable.

So, if the measurements are wildly inaccurate, then  the thresholds are useless and maybe we should just say, assuming the treatment is relatively harmless to the bees, simple to apply and cheap, then we should forget IPM and just treat, treat, treat.

But is it harmless and is there a risk of resistance?  Do we know?

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