Grease Patty Info?

[gottabee]

Where can I find info on grease patties?
When to feed
How to feed
Receipe

Many thanks.

[amymcg]

If you're going to use them, you can use them year round.

Place them between the brood chambers. So if you run two deeps, put the patty in between.

You use one patty at a time, When it's gone, you put in another.

How to make:  Lots of recipes on the internet, but most of them are simply:

1 part crisco to 2 parts sugar.  So 1 Cup Crisco and 2 Cups Sugar. Mix it up in your wife's mixer and don't tell her.   Shape them like hamburgers.  You can stack them with wax paper inbetween and store in freezer.  Bring to room temp before putting in hive.

You can find more info by doing a google search for "grease patty recipe" you will find some with other additives. . .essential oils etc. . .

**Special tip** wear some rubber gloves, or you will have to use really hot water to wash your hands when your done. Crisco doesn't come off with cold water.

[Michael Bush]

Or get tracheal mite resistant bees and don't bother with the grease patties.  If you use them, you'll never know if you have Tracheal mite resistant bees.  If everyone would quit using them and mentol then we would all have Tracheal mite resistant bees.

[amymcg]

I recently shoved a grease patty in my hive. I know that I do not have mite resistant bees. During the last cleansing flight, I had many that exited the hive, fell to the ground and crawled around then got frozen that night.  I plan on re-queening in the spring.  Buying a new queen is cheaper than buying a new hive, so I'm hoping to limp them through the winter.

[Michael Bush]

>During the last cleansing flight, I had many that exited the hive, fell to the ground and crawled around then got frozen that night.

Some bees always do that.  Always have.  Before TMites were here.  (Yes, I remember when they weren't here yet).

Do you see any "K" wings?

[amymcg]

I saw a number of K wings in the spring when I was watching the hive constantly.  The number I saw went down as the summer progressed.  I haven't really noticed any lately, but I figure that if they weren't resistant then, why would they be now with the same queen?  Is that flawed thinking?

[Michael Bush]

Define "a number"?  A few?  A dozen?  Hundreds?  A few I wouldn't worry too much about.  A  lot would worry me.

[amymcg]

Probably around a hundred over a period of a week.  Most were drones. I don't know if that means anything.

[gottabee]

Amy,
Thanks for the recepie and I am going to sneak into the kitchen when my wife is not looking. ON THE OTHER HAND - SHE RARELY VISITS THE KITCHEN! So I think Im safe.

Michael,
I am in tune with your ideas regarding resistant bees.  I have ordered quality bees for spring 06 which should be highly hygenic and restistant. I have never used chemicals and am dedicated to integrated organic methods of pest control and hive management.

Right now I have lost two colonies which I thought was due to doing splits in late September. The colonies never recovered and were weak. I also lost the splits. I fed them all well during the fall.

I thought the last two colony kills were due to cold weather spells. They died in a ball on the frames. They appeared to be chilled. After doing much reading I am very suspicious of traecha mite damage.

My intentions are to save the remaining two colonies and requeen with resistant queens which I have ordered. Unfortunately I have little option at this juncture.

[Michael Bush]

>I thought the last two colony kills were due to cold weather spells. They died in a ball on the frames. They appeared to be chilled. After doing much reading I am very suspicious of traecha mite damage.

Back when the Tracheal mites first showed up I already had Buckfasts.  But since I've had a variety of bees.  I don't think I ever lost one to Tracheal mites.  I sure lost a lot of them to Varroa.  That would be my first suspition.  I'd be looking for thousands of tiny varroa in the pile of dead bees on the bottom board.

[gottabee]

Michael,
Thanks. You are probably right, no doubt I have had a verroa problem and I am working on it too. Do you think that the verroa problem contributed to the weakness of the colonies I split and resulted in their failure to build up last autumn?

Interestingly I have one ferel colony which has faired very well in comparison to all the package bees I purchased. I know the colony was in the woods here at least 12 years before I rehived them last spring. Perhaps this supports your perspective about breeding hygenic and resistant strains of bees. My ferel colony is very strong and agressive to pests. They show little signs of stress of mite damage. I hope the high breed bees I recieve this spring do as well.

[Michael Bush]

>Do you think that the verroa problem contributed to the weakness of the colonies I split and resulted in their failure to build up last autumn?

You have to monitor varroa levels and look for deformed wings to have a really good idea if there are enough Varroa to cause a problem.

>Interestingly I have one ferel colony which has faired very well in comparison to all the package bees I purchased.

Sounds normal to me.

>My ferel colony is very strong and agressive to pests.

But not people?

> They show little signs of stress of mite damage. I hope the high breed bees I recieve this spring do as well.

Good luck

[gottabee]

But not people?

The ferel colony may be slightly more agressive, than the run of the mill Italians, but not significantly.  

[gottabee]

I took Amys advise and snuck in the kitchen to make the grease patties. I got caught, made a mess, and got lectured from by better half.

The recepie worked well. Thanks Amy.

[amymcg]

Your welcome.  

My husband was digging around in the freezer for something for dinner and said, "What is this? . . .Nevermind, I don't think I want to know."

[Pi]

Just put the sugar and grease in a big ziplock bag.  Seal the bag and squish it around by hand.  No blender needed.

[atthelake22]

:shock: Is there something I should know about the downside of treating with grease patties, not everyone seemed supportive of their use. Just curious if there is a bad effect...thanks

[Michael Bush]

Downsides:

First, you'll never know if you have tracheal mite resistant bees or not, if you treat for them.  So you'll continue to pass on genes of bees that are not, by doctoring them for it.

Second, it will attract small hive beetles.

I never treat for Tracheal mites.  If my bees aren't resistant, I want to know so I can requeen them.