a Mike S snip followed by > my comment.

Well, don't fly away yet.

>Personally I have always wondered about the process of shaking bees into a plastic wash pan and then scooping them up for testing.  After a while the pan get sticky and you have to wonder just how many varroa you are leaving in the pan.  Any left may then bias the count on the very next sample.  This is another reason I like the Easy Check containers in that they have a wide mouth and a base which keeps them from tipping.  My process is 1) I find a patch of unsealed brood and 2) take a bee brush and brush off however many are needed for the sample (there is a line in the container for 200 or 300 bees).  With the screen above and alcohol below this still allows the older bees to fly and if you make a mistake and brush off the queen you can pluck her out of the container with no harm done < as a rule in varroa checking and in shaking bees for packages a queen will pop to the top of a mass of bees.

Gene in Central Texas...

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