> According to research by Jeff Pettis, mites 2" below the 
> have have little chance of returning.

This has since been proven false by a number of people.

Jeff's assumption was the original assumption behind 
the screened bottom board design that was to be placed 
atop a solid bottom.  "Open bottoms" have since been
introduced.

You can test this yourself with mites that fall onto a
"dry" board (rather than a sticky board) as follows:  

a) Put the mites in a Tupperware container

b) Watch them climb out, even out of a container 4 
   inches or more in height.

Also, I said:

>> an approach where powdered sugar is dumped onto the top
>> bars.... will not create the fine particles that work,
>> and will clearly never reach all the bees in the hive.

And you agreed:

> sugar dusting is not effective
> at reducing mite levels...

> sugar dusting along with drone removal appears
> to be quite effective.  The drone removal is
> likely the major component...

But I do not think that the reason for the failure of 
the "Dump-n-Brush" method can be said to be due to
climbing mites, as I tried it over and over with open
mesh bottoms.

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