Sr Catherine should obtain a copy of a book entitled At the Hive Entrance by
H.Storch which lists hundreds of observations which can be made without
disturbing the colony and the deductions which may be made from the
observations.
 
Every cloud has a silver lining.  Now that Varroa has been found in Ireland
doubtless Sr Catherine will be using a varroa floor.  Besides catching varroa
mites which fall from the colony above onto the removable drawer of the floor
everything else that falls stays there also as the bees are prevented from
removing their debris by the mesh.  Sr Catherine might for example find mouse
droppings,  chalk brood mummies, pollen pellets, fresh wax scales or lumps of
old pollen on the floor and make appropriate deductions.  The position of the
debris on the floor will tell her which frames are being actively worked on by
the bees vertically above.
 
As far as I know nobody has made a systematic study of what can be found on a
varroa floor and what it means.  This could be another project for the award
winning Irish students or a lucrative publication for Sr Catherine's convent.
Chris Slade