>At 2:08 PM -0400 10/27/06, Eric Brown wrote:
>
>I don't know of any studies, but I've been thinking I could probably run
>the experiment.  I've got about 40 hives at my home yard I could count
>regularly.  Is there anyone that would want to get involved with me in it?

Eric,

I think it would be great to generate a collection of such data from 
a number of beekeepers. I only have one hive (first year beekeeper 
here) but I recently started recording weekly mite drop data for this 
hive so that I can look back in future years to see what was going 
on. I plan to have a couple more hives next year so I could 
contribute data for these to a larger data pool.

Do weather conditions affect the mite drop numbers at all? Since the 
bees' activity level changes with the weather -- more bees staying in 
the hive on cool, cloudy days -- I've been wondering whether this is 
a factor. Perhaps any effort to track mite drop data should include a 
few other observations such as high temperature for that 24-hour 
period.

I suppose all participants in such a group effort should use as 
similar a method as possible for counting the mites; I use a 
corrugated plastic board coated with vaseline placed under the 
screened bottom board from approx. 5pm one day to 5 pm the next, 
depending when I get home from work. I count the mites by scraping 
the board with my hive tool and counting the mites as I scrape them 
off. In doing so, I scrape off most of the vaseline but usually don't 
re-coat the board every time. I've also wondered if this variability 
in "stickiness" affects the number of mites that remain on the board.

What are the particulars of your mite-counting method?

Anne
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Anne Brennan
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