Varroa count

Today I collected a honey extractor and settling tub for the honey harvest tomorrow. I have set up in the school kitchen: another advantage of beekeeping in a school is the kitchen is on an industrial scale so the sinks are large enough to fit in and be able to wash the extractor, sieve and tub. Had I had to do this at home I would have despaired (or used a hose). The kitchen also has plenty of tables and work surfaces and is designed to be besplattered with food, so my honey harvesting in there should really be ideal.

Am only harvesting from the Moon, as Star doesn't even have one side of a frame full of sealed honey.
And finally I may know the reason.

Took out the varroa boards today (a detailed breakdown of the mite drop is below) and thank God I had divided them up into ocean squares otherwise I would have had a terrible time counting. After 13 days there are quite a lot of varroa crabbing about on the floor (yes, some of the ilk were waving their arms around). The Star hive is badly - really badly - infested and I will start treatment tomorrow. They have five times as many varroa as the Moon, which is really doing well and shouldn't need treatment at all. With two hives that close together where drift is certain to occur, this is interesting to say the least.

Mite drop statistic for Moon (13 days)

Mite drop statistic for Star (13 days)

Without having a single clue, my guess is the Moon bees' propensity to propolise everything (they are expert gluers) might have something to do with it. Star does not propolise half as much as Moon does. The varroa count is all the more astonishing as I have done more drone trapping in the Star than the Moon, so there should theoretically be fewer varroa mites in the Star.

Am now already a few steps ahead and thinking of re-queening the Star with the next Moon queen next year.