Hi all,

Last year I tried the 'sugar roll' with a negative result on hives that were
showing visible signs of infestation.(Varroa in drone brood easily found,
and mites seen in hives or on bees) I just tried again on a feral colony
with the same visible signs, this time carefully collecting my bees from the
brood area, as recommended by Jeff Pettis (sp?) at the BBKA spring
convention this year. No varroa mites falling through the coarse sieve onto
the fine. Lots of bees looking very funny. They won't get accepted by the
wrong hive either...a side issue I pursued...This test is not working for me
and I can't figure out why. Have others had success? I still think it's
Russian roulette...

Grapefruit leaf smoke is a similar annoyance to me...No mites fall. I
haven't tried strips the next day, but will.

Whilst forking the dronebrood out of the feral colony (inner cover with a
big pile becoming a bird paradise...loads of varroa, lots of multiple adults
on pupae) it occurred to me that if 1500 bees hatch on a day, lots of
varroa that were not exposed to (say) fluvalinate will be knocked down by
the alternative varroacide selected to prove fluvalinate resistance. Am I
missing something there too? Apistan seems to have done a good job last
Autumn in Berkshire.

Regards
John Sewell