Normal mite drop was 0-3 in 24 hr period. So I don't think I have a very bad infestation. I haven't opened any drone brood. I didn't know to do that. How many cells would I have to open? Do the drone cells stick out a bit farther than worker cells? And then once it's open would I pulol out the larva to check or can you see with out pulling it out?
Here is a picture from Beth that shows the larger drone brood on the right.
I usually open about ten or so and pull the larvae out. You can easily spot the dark mite on the snow white larvae. Sometimes the mites will run out of the cell when you open it, or after you pull the larvae out. Most of the time, they will be on the larvae, but sometimes they will be in the bottom of the cell.
Were you serious about the penny thing or was that a joke?
I was just trying to make the point that some people think they have something that works, when in reality they never had a problem. This unfortunately gives false expectations and misleads others. People in general would like nothing better that a quick, cheap, organic solution to varroa. By human nature, this desire tends to unittentionally bias some of the proposed methods as more effective than they really are.
With that said, it looks like you DID do your homework and attempted to evaluate your level of infestation. :) Although your level may be low, at 3 a day, you should have a sufficient population to see some type of result from your treatment. I would continue to do counts for a few days to see if it increases. It may take a few days.