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]