Grease patties for bees and extender patties for bees are used to treat several different bee pests including tracheal mites, American foulbrood, European foulbrood and Varroa Destructor mites.

The pest you are trying to control will ultimately decide which patty you are going to use. I do however use these every year as a preventative.

Grease wintergreen patties recipe

Grease wintergreen patties may help in the control of Varroa Destructor mites. This is being researched by West Virginia University.

Grease mineral supplement recipe

Grease supplement patties will control tracheal mite buildup and also give your bees some needed minerals in lean times, like winter.

Grease extender patties recipe

Grease extender patties will control American and European foulbrood disease.

It is important to remember to place all of these patties directly on top of your cluster and close to the brood or they will be ignored. So make sure to place them directly on top of the top bars of the frames the bees are clustered in. Extender patties and wintergreen patties should not be used while a honey flow is being stored for human consumption.

Recipes:

Grease Mineral supplement Patty Recipe

Ingredients:

2 lbs Solid vegetable shortening (such as Crisco)

3 lbs Granulated White Sugar

1 lb 2:1 Sugar syrup or clean honey

1/3 cup Pink Mineral salt

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and mix well.

Split into 1/4 cup portions, form into patty shapes and place the patties between layers of wax paper.

Store patties in a large freezer bag until needed.

 

Grease Wintergreen Supplement Patty

Ingredients:

 2 lbs Solid vegetabl3e shortening

3 lbs White table sugar

1 lb 2:1 sugar syrup or clean honey.

3 Tblsp Wintergreen essential oil.

Directions: 

Combine all ingredients and mix until thoroughly mixed.

Split into 1/4 cup portions, form into patty shapes and place the patties between layers of wax paper.

Store patties in a large freezer bag until needed.

 

Grease Extender Patty Recipe

**This recipe was once the go-to solution for AFB. Due to the bacteria developing a resistance to the active ingredient, it is not recommended for use, and the recipe is here for informational purposes only. This recipe was originally used as a replacement for weekly dustings of Terramycin, instead giving the bees a sustained lower dose for a longer time. The danger in this method though is breeding resistant bacteria, which history has shown is exactly what happened**

Ingredients:

2/3 lb White table sugar

1/3 lb solid vegetable shortening (such as Crisco)

2 Tbspn Terramycin (TM-25)

This recipe would result in two 1-pound patties each containing about 844mg of TM-25, and would take the average hive about 6 weeks to consume. This results in a weekly dose of 140mg.