While checking my hive last weekend, and taking 9 deep frames of honey from a colony I stated with in June (it helps to have a whole deep of honey to start with!), I noticed and was glad to see quite a pile of yellowjackets piled up at the end of the landing board. I was very glad I had reduced the entrance 3 weeks ago, I think that helped keep the yellowjackets out. Onto the mites...I did an ether roll on about 30 bees two weeks ago and came up with nothing on the sides of the jar. I'm not sure if I just didn't see them or I don't know what I'm looking for. I was looking for small, hairy, legged dirt particles, right? I put a grease patty on the week before, but didn't get low enough to see how they did with it. The bees were supposedly treated in April/May as they were building up from the long cold, wet spring and I got them in June. Should I not treat them since the mites may be low enough in population adn the queen has more or less stopped laying? ****************************************************************************** Dave D. Cawley, Maitre d' | ***ALERT shameless plug ALERT*** The Internet Cafe | Scranton, Pennsylvania | ASK ME FOR A COPY OF WEBPHONE!!! (717) 344-1969 | (or try www.scranton.com/webphone) [log in to unmask] | ****************************************************************************** URL => http://www.scranton.com