> In an apiary of 20 hives I am counting a mite drop of 4 a day in a
> couple of hives.  The remainder of the hives show no mites at all.  I
> treated with Checkmite exactly as recommended last fall and I use
> hygienic NWC queens from Pat Heitkam. I would think by now I would be
> seeing much greater mite numbers and wonder if I made a mistake.

Up here, we've been noticing a lot less varroa than we would expect.  As
with everything, there are years when they thrive and years when they do
not.  Nature has its cycles.

>  I
> thought that spraying Pam on the plastic trays that go under the
> screened bottom board I would catch any mites and prevent them from
> crawling off.

That should be catching them all, if the screen keeps the bees away from the
fallen mites, and if you are using enough Pam to soak the falling mites.

> Do you get a more accurate number with the sticky
> boards?

See above.

> Is it possible that Checkmite leaves a residual effect
> because it gets into the comb

Shouldn't be, if used as directed.  It does leave a very residue that can
have a subtle deleterious effect on queen bee rearing, but should not leave
enough to affect mites much.

> or am I seeing an effect from the
> hygienic bees removing larvae that are being attacked by the Varroa?

That may be a factor, but it may just be that the mites are having a bad
year.

Glad you are thinking about this, though.  I am too.

If you are not having serious mite problems, maybe you should not be using
Checkmite+.  Checkmite+ IMO, is only for situations where lesser measures
cannot be trusted to work.

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

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