David Gaida wrote:
>
> Dave and I were having a hard time this year getting our bees to 'remove'
> or 'use' the extender patties when we placed it on the inner cover or as a
> single patty over the frames.  Sure can't help the bees if they don't touch
> it.  Tried an experiment.
>
> We took the same amount of sugar/grease mixture that we would normally put
> into a patty.  We put it into a plastic baggie and cut a small hole in the
> corner of the baggies.  Then we squeezed the mixture out onto the top of
> each frame in the brood box (similar to applying a small 1/8" bead of
> caulk).  We also add a small amount of the bees' own honey to the mixture.
>
> Don't know if it was the timing or the new application, but the bees
> removed all the mixture within one week each time we used it.
 
 
Hi Judy,
        First, one week is too fast, remember its an extender patty, meaning
the treatment extends over a time period. I think 3 to 4 weeks is about
right. I used to make 50/50 crisco and 6x sugar. These are taken very
slow and sometimes not at all. I've finally settled on a mixture using
100 lbs of 6x and about 35 lbs of canola oil. The sweeter mix is taken
in about the right time frame. Do not use granulated with canola, you'll
get a mixture that is too runny. The nice thing about using liquid oil
is that the mixture has the same consistancy over a wide range of
temperatures, no heating and no runnyness if the pattie is sitting on a
warm hive top. Another consideration s colony strenghth. Weak colonies
do not take patties well. It is better to dust those. Actually its
better not to have weak colonies but I always seem to have a few.