This year, I placed two pads on top of the two deeps (honey super, two Formic Pro pads, deep, deep, bottom board with the entrance fully open). In 2020, I followed the recommended placement (honey super, pad #1, deep, pad #2, deep, bottom board with the entrance fully open). In neither case did I see many dead bees around the entrance. However, in terms of effectiveness, the recommended method performed better.
The following tables show actual mite drop counts during 24 hours, unless otherwise noted. Pre-treatment natural mite drops were similar in both years. However, the total number of mites dropped during the two-week period was at least 3,506 with the recommended method, compared to 1,288 with the two-pads-on-two-deeps method. Post-treatment natural mite drops were also lower with the recommended method.
2020 Data (recommended method)
| Date | Days after treatment | 24 hr mite drop (unless noted) | Note |
|---|
| 8/17/2020 | -3 | 23 | |
| 8/18/2020 | -2 | 25 | |
| 8/19/2020 | -1 | 30 | |
| 8/20/2020 | 0 | 32 | Formic Pro: one pad on the deeps, one between deeps |
| 8/21/2020 | 1 | 48 | 12 hr count |
| 8/22/2020 | 2 | 673 | |
| 8/23/2020 | 3 | 365 | |
| 8/24/2020 | 4 | 324 | |
| 8/25/2020 | 5 | 379 | |
| 8/26/2020 | 6 | 361 | |
| 8/27/2020 | 7 | 332 | |
| 8/28/2020 | 8 | 313 | |
| 8/29/2020 | 9 | 280 | |
| 8/31/2020 | 11 | 340 | 48 hr count |
| 9/2/2020 | 13 | not done | Mite board cleaned but not counted |
| 9/3/2020 | 14 | 91 | |
| 9/6/2020 | 17 | 61 | 72 hr count, pads removed |
| 9/7/2020 | 18 | 41 | |
| 9/8/2020 | 19 | 6 | |
| 9/9/2020 | 20 | 9 | |
| 9/10/2020 | 21 | 8 | |
| 9/11/2020 | 22 | 8 | |
| 9/12/2020 | 23 | 7 | |
2025 data (two-pads-on-two-deeps)
| Date | Days after treatment | 24 hr mite drop (unless noted) | Note |
|---|
| 8/26/2025 | -3 | 29 | |
| 8/27/2025 | -2 | 30 | |
| 8/28/2025 | -1 | 30 | |
| 8/29/2025 | 0 | 45 | Formic Pro on the two deeps, at 6:00 PM |
| 8/30/2025 | 1 | 99 | 12 hr count |
| 8/31/2025 | 2 | 178 | |
| 9/1/2025 | 3 | 128 | |
| 9/2/2025 | 4 | 81 | |
| 9/3/2025 | 5 | 85 | |
| 9/4/2025 | 6 | 88 | |
| 9/5/2025 | 7 | 100 | |
| 9/6/2025 | 8 | 70 | |
| 9/7/2025 | 9 | 84 | |
| 9/8/2025 | 10 | 79 | |
| 9/9/2025 | 11 | 88 | |
| 9/10/2025 | 12 | 88 | |
| 9/11/2025 | 13 | 85 | |
| 9/12/2025 | 14 | 35 | |
| 9/14/2025 | 16 | 42 | 48 hr count, pads removed |
| 9/15/2025 | 17 | 15 | |
| 9/17/2025 | 19 | 19 | |
| 9/18/2025 | 20 | 11 | |
