>On day 8 or 9 I removed the spent pads and did a sugar shake to test
efficacy.

Since brood is sealed for 12 days, testing at Day 8 or 9 picks up mites
that have emerged from sealed brood, but have little brood of the right age
to enter (Day 8.5 after the egg is laid), since the treatment stops
egglaying from Day 0- about Day 4.  This fact can skew the mite infestation
rate measurement higher.

Paul, I suggest that you do a mite recheck after another mite reproductive
cycle--which is about 17 days.

I was recently surprised by poor efficacy of thymol gel in one colony.  I
applied about 30 g in the middle of the brood nest in 90F weather--enough
to cause the removal of most brood, yet still had a high mite level 4 days
later.  This is not my usual experience.

In my operation, we are experiencing higher mite levels than normal this
summer, and started treating yesterday with the full 2-strip dose of MAQS,
as opposed to the single strip that we usually use.


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

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