I reported widely varying results from two alcohol wash samples 
from the same hive on the same hive inspection some time back.

I was reading the ABJ online today and note that Larry Connor 
reports a similar experience in an article there:

--- Begin quote ---
To be statistically solid. sample the same hive with multiple jars of bees. 
For example, I worked with a group of beekeepers where 6 samples
were taken. We found only 4 mites in one sample and 14 in another'
with an average of 8 mites overall. The statistical average is much 
stronger than any one single sample.
--- end quote ---

The take-home message is that no one sample can be expected to 
be very representative of the actual mite populations.  Only 
multiple samples can give results reliable enough for making 
management decisions.

This is especially true where comparison is being made to threshold 
benchmarks.  Personally, if my sampling comes within 50% of a 
published threshold, I consider that an indication that intervention
should be considered.

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