Personally, I find the standard ether roll to be quick, effective, and uses very little resources regarding bees, time and consumables. The sugar shake is messy and no better. The number of bees (200-300) is no more consequential to the colony  than is the loss of blood when you get tested for cholesterol, etc. especially when compared with the  value of the information. 

Without doing sampling over time, you have no idea what is going on your hives regarding mite population build up. Even if you are committed to not treating, the information is still useful for comparison. Jamie Strange and Steve Sheppard confirmed the validity of ether roll as an accurate tool. No sampling method will correlate exactly to the actual numbers present. 

No signiÞcant relationship was found between
mite per 100 bees and the number of mites detected
using sticky boards when brood was absent.

However, when brood was present, the correlation
between sticky board counts and mite population was
significant using a cubic model. 

A significant correlation was found between mites detected
with an ether roll and actual mite levels when brood was absent
and when brood was present by using linear models. 

Damaging mite populations were
compared with the number of mites detected by sampling
method to determine treatment threshold numbers.

Optimum Timing of Miticide Applications for Control of
Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) in Apis mellifera
(Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Washington State, USA
JAMES P. STRANGE AND WALTER S. SHEPPARD

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