Russ, I am very interested in this approach and have been doing something
similar for a year now.

I am hopeful that the mite drop will once again alert me to developed
infestations that I might otherwise overlook.
For example, in my climate I have stretches of weather that would stress
the colony if I opened them up. I can check
the mite drop and see if there's an increase in mite drop, like right now I
have 2 hives that showed up yesterday with a mite
drop way above the others. Next good weather day, those hives are
prioritized for inspection and decisions of testing and treatment.
The mite drop needs to be considered along with "brooding" as evidenced by
decapping materials on the substrate.  So  all the colonies
had decapping material but these 2 (side by side) had a larger mite drop
than others.

Where did you get your trays?
Joanne

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