"you will not get a better chance to rid them of mites then now in the first 6 to 9 days post installation."

No one wants to kill 300 bees from a package to see what the mite load is.  Why bother when you know they are going to have mites?  Just treat with apivar.  It is well proven to not inhibit brood rearing and is highly effective at killing mites at least for now.  As long as you do not eat the strip it is very safe to humans.  It will be off the hive well before that package builds up to the point they need a supper.  I tell beginners to put an apivar strip in when they install the package and move it to the center of the brood nest in a week or so.  This gives a head start at getting mites down to the point that viruses in that package will be down to a reasonable level in three months even if the virus level is a bit high to start with.  It is simply dirt cheap insurance when you think what you paid for the package.

Dick

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