Beeluvers, I don't used grease patties or menthol, the standard treatments for T-mites. I d o use a paper towel saturated with the cheapest veggie oil out there, placed between the two deep brood chambers, 1 sep and a week later. Have been doing this since the appearance of T-mites about ?ten? years ago. My results are the same as or better than those who use the standard treatment, acc/to my inquiries. IT'S ALSO CHEAPER!!! I checked six of my 12 hives yesterday, 1400-1700, when the temp hit 66 degrees (unusual here), installed four of my seven pollen traps on the strongest hives, removed apistan strips, and started the conversion to three-shallow beekeeping (versus the standard two-deep beekeeping--I find these boxes too, too heavy for a 70-year-old man!) All six of the 12 checked came thru the winter strong as usual, save one, which I promptly disbanded, giving its four frames of bees to another colony. Obviously its queen had gone bye-bye. **John Iannuzzi, Ph.D. **38 years in apiculture **12 hives of Italian honeybees **At Historic Ellicott City, Maryland, 21042, U.S.A. (10 miles west of Baltimore, Maryland) [9772 Old Annapolis Rd - 410 730 5279] **"Forsooth there is some good in things evil For bees extract sweetness from the weed" -- Bard of Avon **Website: http://www.xmetric.com/honey **Email: [log in to unmask] [1jan981031est]