Hi Bill and Everyone, My small cell hives haven't received any mite treatments. I have stopped monitoring natural mite fall as the numbers have remained consistently low. The bees can take care of mites by themselves so they are no longer an issue for me. These hives build up faster in the spring. They are great producers at double the local average. And overwinter better than my large cell hives did. I haven't lost a single small cell hive yet. Although, I have had to replace a few queens after the third season which is to be expected. I established a few colonies on large cell comb to test some ideas concerning small cell size and seasonal bee size. These hives were in the same yards as my small cell hives. The natural mite fall increased through the season in these hives and one of them began showing symptoms of PMS. I treated the large cell hives with oxalic acid to avoid contaiminating the comb. I also built a top bar hive to see what the bees would freely build for themselves. The results were quite surprising. The broodnest has a definate location and structure. The comb inside the broodnest tapers in size from top to bottom with small cell sized comb located where the bees would concentrate brood rearing during the spring and fall. I have seen this same structure repeated in three additional top bar hives. You can read about it at: http://wind.prohosting.com/tbhguy/bee/cells.htm I now think that the bees do better on small cell because it's a better match with what they would build for themselves, expecially during the spring and fall. And also, because they are on clean wax. But small cell beekeeping has it share of problems mainly related to the expense of getting enough small cell comb drawn and the great number of hives lost while regressing. Small cell size has been promoted as a panacea for all beekeeping problems. It was based on the idea that bees have been 'artificially' enlarged by the use of large cell sized foundation. My research indicates that just didn't happen. http://wind.prohosting.com/tbhguy/bee/musin.htm The Lusby's pointed me in the right direction concerning the importance of the broodnest comb to bee health but for the wrong reason. Most of the speculation and the methodology attached to small cell beekeeping is based upon this erroneous premise. But the results of using small cell are real. Although I still keep six small cell hives, small cell beekeeping is no longer my primary focus. I am working with natural comb in my top bar hives. Regards Dennis :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::