But you saw one so now you know what you are looking at.
I put a little oil on the board, they stick to it and cannot escape - don’t need paper
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There is an easy fix to all of this:
- Place lawn chair in close proximity to hive:
- Crack open a honey lager or favorite beverage and enjoy until empty.
- Repeat #2
- Repeat #'s 1,2,3 for 7-10 days and recheck hive.
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@Valli the paper was intended for easier cleaning. Folks around here use to do it that way. Also, my board is blue, so it might be easier to spot mites on a white underground.
@Anon THATS the greatest advice I’ve ever been given! 
Quick question, Valli: what kind of oil would you put on it? I used bread butter (which melts, of course, when it gets a bit warmer), but I’m not sure if that is the most effective. Thanks!
@CampingLaChassagne Butter will go Rank (off) because of the milk by products. Use a vegetable oil - Cheap is best - no point having Varroa drown or stick to Good Quality Virgin Olive Oils when you can use canola, peanut (groundnut) or Sun/Saf Flower oils
You can also use petroleum jelly, aka Vaseline - doesn’t go off at all. 
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Patrolium Jelly (Vaseline) is fairly inert and safe - they use it on babies
I installed the oily board in my two hives yesterday. short check today showed one ant, some wax and pollen quite evenly distributed over the whole area and no mites. How long do I leave the board in to get a reasonable result?
I guess I’ll leave it at least until this nasty cold period is over, just so the hive doesn’t get that much cold air in. I fed the stronger hive yesterday, they have a lot of brood but little stores… The other, “weaker” one is busy today, the girls fly out inspite of the weather changing every 5 min from sun to snow…
Even with Varroa you will not always see a drop. If it is cold the bees may not be laying and the varroa have no cells being capped to breed in. Which is a good thing. A brood break stops the varroa cycle for a time.
I used to use spray on cooking oil. I don’t bother with anything now. It takes a heck of a lot of wind to dislodge anything that drops.
However it’s important to realise that natural drop is not really a good indicator of infestation. I wouldn’t rely on it. It’s better to sugar roll the bees. This is a good article
http://scientificbeekeeping.com/sick-bees-part-11-mite-monitoring-methods/
One week is the recommended time but see post above