Hello Everyone,

Can you believe almost a month has gone by since my last update? Counted
natural mite fall which averaged less than 1 mite/week/hive over the last
30 days. The maximum dropped in any hive was 3 mites/week and the minimum
was zero mites.

I decided to dust the hives with powdered sugar and count the resulting
mite fall as I had done at this time last year. The average mite drop
after dusting was 1.6 mites/hive! The maximum was 6 mites from my Harbo
hive. The minimum was zero mites from the same hive that had zero natural
mite fall. This hive is my most populous hive with 4 deep boxes of bees
and brood. The rest of the hives have about 3 deeps with bees and brood.

Still, no sign of uncapped purpled eyed pupa. A few pupa have been
uncapped on a few frames at an earlier stage but no signs of the
extensive cleansing activities that occurred last year.

Best Wishes
Dennis