Bob Harrison asked if other "test-before-treating" beekeepers are seeing very low mite loads this summer.
  
FWIW, yes, we are.  We restocked a bunch of last winter's dead-outs with Russian packages this spring, and were gratified but not overly surprised when the July and August 24-hour sticky-boards (with or without Apistan) showed no mites at all.  But we were surprised when the surviving over-wintered colonies (mongrel Buckfasts and Italians and caught swarms) showed the same negative results.  This is unusual.  Normally we see lots of varroa drop at this time of year.
  
We're in an isolated area of Louisiana, and as far as we know, we're the only beekeepers in this parish.  The next nearest kept bees are probably Adee's big operation in Wilkinson county, Mississippi, maybe twenty miles north of us, so we've wondered whether what we're seeing here is more widespread, or whether we've simply killed all the varroa in our little area.  Apparently, from what Bob says, it's not just us.  If so, then maybe there's light beginning to show at the end of the tunnel.  
  
We had been treating religiously twice a year since 1995, at first with Apistan until it lost its effectiveness here two years ago, and with Coumaphos since.  We had lots of mites in past years, but none now.  Amazing.  Last January, we treated our survivor hives with Coumaphos, and the new Russians (installed in April) were not treated at all.  No colonies, Russian or "native", have been treated since, and none has mites.  Normally we would have been seeing untreated colonies crashing by now.
  
This apparent mitelessness seems not to be restricted to the Russians.   
  
Walter Weller