> 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!