This is HopGuard, a strip of cardboard soaked with a gooey concoction made from hops. According to the manufacturer, it is a natural product that will kill the mites in my hives, but will not kill my bees. One drawback is that it is messy, and latex gloves are a must. Just an FYI – bees can sting through latex gloves.
The cardboard strip straddles across a frame with the ends hanging down into the brood nest. I placed two of these strips in each brood box.
Here are the two installed strips. The good news is that the bees do not seem bothered in the least by the product. Unfortunately, it will only kill the mites that are on the bees, not the ones attached to developing brood inside the cells, so several applications may be needed. I placed a white board under the hives to catch the mites that drop from the hive. After about 30 minutes, I counted zero mites dropped from one hive and one mite dropped from another. Maybe my fall mite treatments with Apiguard were very effective. Or maybe I need to give HopGuard more time to work. I’ll check the white boards again in 24 hours.
Meanwhile, in the Elm Creek area…
Agarita, one of our best, early honey plants is officially in bloom. It’s interesting that the buds are red and the flowers, after they open are bright yellow. Agarita honey has a fantastic flavor and someday I hope to have some hives strong enough early enough to produce some that I can harvest. But not this year. The bees are doing well, but are still in drought recovery mode. They need all the nutrients they can get right now.
Gretchen Bee Ranch 
AMAZING…
You might be interested in a recent post by Rusty at Honey Bee Suite about why she’s hopping mad at Hopguard: http://www.honeybeesuite.com/hopping-mad-at-hopguard.
Over here in the UK we do Apiguard in late summer and oxalic acid in December or January. The acid is really effective, you can find hundreds of mites on the monitoring board a couple of days afterwards.
Emily, thank you. I did read that post and it was helpful. I used Apiguard for the first time last fall and really liked the results. I was hoping to use HopGuard as an easier alternative to powdered sugar dusting, so this is a trial run. I thought about oxalic acid but wasn’t sure how to apply it accurately. Based on your comment, I will definitely give it a try next winter. Perhaps between the oxalic acid, Apiguard and splitting my hives in the summer it will give me better success against the mites. Also I want to tell you that my wife and I enjoy your blog.
Thanks Mark! I made a video of an experienced beekeeper friend of mine treating with oxalic this winter, might help you get an idea of how to do it: http://adventuresinbeeland.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/drizzling-oxalic-acid-on-bees/.