The enactment of the Food Quality Protection Act (1996) has stimulated the development of alternative pesticides. One insecticide alternative for apple producers is kaolin. Kaolin is a white, aluminosilicate powder that forms a barrier film which repels or confuses insects. However, with the development of any new pest management technique, potential non-target impacts must be studied. A two-year experiment is being conducted to determine the impact of kaolin on mite populations on the apple cultivars ‘Liberty’ and ‘McIntosh’ using a completely randomized design with treatments that compare kaolin applications with a standard integrated pest management (IPM) program. On eight evaluation dates in 2003, 20 leaves per tree were collected from each of 5-6 single-tree replications of each treatment and brought to a lab where mite populations were assessed. The number of European red mites, Panonychus ulmi (Koch), and two-spotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae (Koch), were counted; all other mites were counted and preserved for later identification. Treatment effects were determined by evaluating the number of phytophagous mites and phytoseiid predators using specific contrasts. In 2003, significant differences were detected in phytophagous and phytoseiid mite populations between kaolin-treated trees and those managed under a standard IPM protocol. The experiment is being repeated in 2004 to confirm these non-target impacts.