> Crisco is solid at room temp and is miserable to mix thoroughly without
> warming. Use liquid vegetable oil. -Cheaper, easier to mix, and works
> just the same.
 
I don't doubt Dave's experience.  Maybe Crisco varies from place to
place. From what Dave was saying about the temperature there in
SC recently, I imagine that things can be very different under 'normal'
conditions in different locales.
 
Here, in Alberta, Canada, we just throw the Crisco into a cement mixer
(sans blades) at temperatures as low as 60 degrees F and find it soon
becomes soft and that the other ingredients mix in nicely.  Sometimes we
cut the shortening into small blocks to speed the process, but it isn't
necessary.  After about an hour, everything is blended nicely.
 
We've used vegetable oil (and mineral oil) experimentally in some batches
along with the shortening to see what effects are.  We found that the
patties that result do not hold together very well and are hard to handle
when it becomes necessary to manipulate the hive later.  They are also
pretty runny and do not stack well in boxes to carry to the field.  The
ones made with Crisco are very nice -- not too soft, and not too brittle
and stack up to a foot in height without much distortion.  FWIW, Other
shortening brands we've tried tend to be very hard to mix and result in
brittle patties that shatter on the way to the hive or when they are
disturbed.
 
Part of the design of the patties is the texture.  The way they are
originally specified, they last a certain length of time -- and this
measures out the dose of OTC.  Softer patties may be removed faster and
this may accelerate the treatment.  I don't know -- maybe not.  I do know
that Mann Lake uses a larger dose of OTC per given amount of other
ingredients and their patties are acceptable.  Moreover, I believe they
are the only ones registered with the US authorities for bee use.
 
There is an awful lot of info on this topic in the logs, so I won't try to
regurgitate it all again, however, there is a file I have offered in the
past to those interested and will now offer again.  Rather than suggest an
email robot response, this time I'll just put it on a web page:  if you
care to, go to http://www.internode.net/HoneyBee/Misc/Extender.htm
 
Allen
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