> recipe for grease patties
Equal parts granulated sugar and Crisco.  Crisco is a solid VEGETABLE oil (I
do not know the comparable product in Ireland).  Mix thouroughly, form into
patties about the size of hamburgers, and place them on the top bar.  Some
add terramycin to the recipe and call them "Extender Patties", but I avoid
grease patties as a vector for TM delivery because the extender patties
deliver the TM in less than ideal dosages.  Grease patties are recommended
for Tracheal mite treatment, they have no effect on Varroa.

> observations regarding using them.
Some hives will consume (or remove) the patties quickly (perhaps an
indication of hygienic behaviour?) and other hives barely touch them.  This
variability in consumption is why I do not use them to deliver TM.  Some
hives take their medicine, orther go untreated.  Some hives need regular
replacement due to consumption, other hives will have patties left over in
the spring from patties installed the previous fall.

Diana Sammaturo did her doctorate thesis observing the questing (host
seeking) behaviour of tracheal mites.  The presence of the grease patties
impairs the t-mites' ability to recognize an ideal host (a newly emerged bee
less than 4 days old) when they find it.  Diana originally recommended
year-round presence of grease patties in the hive environment, but
subsequently changed that recommendation to using the patties in fall/winter
when the bees are confined and clustered.

Plenty more in the archives at:
http://listserv.albany.edu:8080/archives/bee-l.html

Aaron Morris - thinking greasy bees!