> Wouldn't the separation come after the shaking has concluded? I was
thinking of shaking diligently, allowing the liquid and the mites to
sift through a #5 screen into a bottom jar, and then possibly an
additional rinse to wash mites that stuck to the bees into the bottom
jar. Then agitate the bottom jar and pour through a paper (coffee) filter.
IMO, a paint shaker is far too violent and would shake the bees to
pieces and murky the alcohol with guts and parts. The shaking action has
to be just right, so that the mites are dislodged, but the bees remain
intact. Otherwise the resulting mess of stingers and other parts makes
counting unnecessarily difficult. Mites are easy to count in alcohol if
it remains clear, and the alcohol can be reused several times before it
needs to be settled.
I'm sure Randy has a simple and effective design in mind.
***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm