A Berlese funnel (also known as a Berlese-Tullgren funnel) is a laboratory apparatus used for the extraction of small invertebrates from soil and leaf litter samples. There is always a certain time delay between the collection of soil samples and their arrival at the laboratory for extraction. We were interested in the effect of this time interval on Mesostigmata communities. While several papers address extraction efficiency or the impact of transport time, similar data from Central Europe are currently lacking (sensu specific communities of Mesostigmata in this region of Europe). Our field experiment was conducted in the Little Carpathians Mts (Slovakia), using soil samples (300 cm3volume) from an oak-hornbeam forest. All soil samples involved the same soil type and the same microhabitat. Subsequently, some soil samples were extracted immediately after collection (the first series, 5 soil samples), some soil samples was stored for 7 days at room temperature (~20 °C) before extraction (the second series, 5 soil samples), and the rest of soil samples was stored in a refrigerator for 7 days (~4 °C) before extraction (the third series, 5 soil samples). Finally, all three series were extracted 7 days. Generally, during the first 24 hours of extraction we obtained 49% of the mites; after 4 days, this figure reached 98%. Subsequently, we compared the total number of mesostigmatid mites in the first series with samples extracted one week later. In the second series, we obtained only 15% of the total number of mites in the first series. In the third series, we obtained 32% of the total number of mites in the first series. In our presentation, we analyze the changes in the species composition of Mesostigmata communities based in mite extraction procedures. Generally, every delay between collecting and extraction results in a decrease in abundance of mesostigmatid mites.