"I never got organized enough to test this out properly, but it would be an easy, low-tech approach. Maybe somebody wants to take this on, perhaps as their Master Beeekeeper research project?  : )"

It has been done :
The effect of the ‘Bee Gym™’ grooming device on Varroa destructor mite fall from honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies Jonathan G Pattricka,b* , William Blockc and Beverley J Glovera aDepartment of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; bDepartment of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; cCambridgeshire Beekeepers Association, Cambridge, UK (Received 18 November 2015; accepted 10 November 2016)
Abstract :
Grooming is a honey bee behavior that has the potential to minimize and manage the detrimental effects of Varroa
destructor. Here we tested the efficacy of the Bee Gym™, a device hypothesized to increase honey bee auto-grooming
and increase mite removal from colonies. Natural mite fall from 20 colonies was counted for 14 days, after which half
the colonies were fitted with a Bee Gym and half with a control object. Mite fall and the proportion of damaged mites
were then recorded for another 14 days. Total mite fall was generally higher over the second 14 days, but this increase
was not significantly higher for the Bee Gym colonies than for the control colonies. There was also no difference in
the proportion of damaged mites between the two treatments. Mite fall and damage to mites may be influenced by
other factors, and this is discussed; however, given that we found no effect of the Bee Gym, we conclude that there is
no evidence from this study of its efficacy as a management strategy for V. destructor.

Georges

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