I wanted to show the way I test for mites. My hives are now five and eight weeks old. I use the stickey board method. I apply a layer of cooking oil to the board that I slide into my screened hive bottom board. The idea is that the mites fall off the bees and stick to the greased board so you can get a count of mites on each square that is drawn on the board. You leave the board on the hive for three days and then you get your count. Mites in a square times the number of squares on the board divided by days which is three. A number of forty would be high on a average hive, three mediumns or two deep. After doing the test I have found no mites up to this point. Both hives seem strong.
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