>>Randy says:  However, the last nuc we checked had a single mite in about every other
>>cell.

Randy,

Thank you for the quantitative observations that can shed some real light on this issue!  As Allan points out, visible phoretic mites may not really correspond the actual levels of mites. 

Do you recall what the % phoretic count was for the nuc with mites in almost every cell?

>>Most had very few mites in the first cells--maybe one out of 10 or more
>>cells.

This still sounds like a high infestation to me, or is a 10% brood infestation common?  This probably means that most of the brood that was capped later has lower infestation than the frame you checked?

--Jeremy Rose

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm