Hi everyone,
I am a new beekeeper and did a powdered sugar drop/dusting on both of my two hives on Sunday. Both my hives are pretty strong from what I can tell... In doing the powdered sugar (I live in Florida by the way) I counted about 20 mites in each hive and 2-4 small hive beetles after leaving it on an hour as advised by one of the guys at Dadant (I'm wondering if I shouldn't have left it on longer after reading a few other posts). What is a healthy population of Varroa mites and Small Hive Beetle suppose to be? Is this 1-hour estimate an acceptable test or do I need to repeat and leave the stick board on longer?
Thanks,
Allison