Well said Mrs River.
OAV gives me the ability to treat when it is necessary.. No matter the season. Packages dont usually get treated until their first fall, and then I dont give them a three step treatment, only a single treatment just to help them out a little.
In time, you will be able to tell if your hives have an abundance of mites from their demeanor, crawlers and other signs that tell you its time to treat. I have not done an either roll in about four years, this will be the fifith, because I use OAV to treat them with. It saves me time and effort, and saves the bees the humiliation of being powdered, or killed with either.... but it takes a bit of experience and knowledge to be able to see the signs without doing the mite checks, either sugar rolls, Either rolls, or sticky board etc... One method that works well is to check drone cells for mites when you do an inspection.. Seeing mites in the drone cells is an indication of the mite load. I have had hives on the verge of crashing with 5 mites per EVERY drone cell I opened.. treating them with OAV had them in swarm mode two months later. If I open 20 Drone cells and average 2 mites per cell I will treat. That is only how "I" do it, that does not make it right for everyone. Your bees are not the same, your climate is not the same, your methods are not the same. ONLY time and experience can guide you. If there are no drone cells, then it is my opinion that they do not need "major" treatment.. the single fall treatment I give them is to insure their mite load is low for winter, nothing more.
Being new, means you worry a lot.. I remember well the feeling. In such a situation, doing nothing is often the best choice, but by all means, check on them every week!
But.. everyone else says two weeks!!!!
Nope, EVERY week if you can..... Why? My reason is simple.. i fits your first year, you shouldnt have to worry about swarming.. So I advocate VERY strongly to HAVE a reason to get into your hive and LOOK.... The reason you get into your hive every week that first year, is because your NEW, and you need to become familiar with inspecting those hives. EVERY week gives you the familiarity you need, it satisfies your curiosity and gives you experience. THAT, IS a reason...
In year two, you need to inspect every week during swarm season, because it takes nine days to go from a queen cup, to a queen cell to a capped queen cell... Once capped, the old queen will often vacate the premisis with half the bees in your hive. If you inspect twice a weekm you are going to have MORE swarms than if you inspect once a week and deal with the situation when you see swarm cells being prepared.
Two years ago, I stopped inspecting every week after the first week of July.. two weeks later I went into my hives, to hear the roar of bees behind me.. i turned to see one of my stronger hives swarming at that moment.. I hived them and all was well, but it shows the importance of inspections once a week... Until you are sure swarm season is over..
http://www.outyard.net/inspecting-a-hive.html