From Allen Dick: Making Grease Patties Extender patties (grease patties) are popular in Alberta for controlling American Foulbrood, and for suppressing Tracheal Mite buildup. The grease/sugar format is deliberately designed not to be attractive to the bees, and is therefore removed slowly, extending oxytetracycline treatment over weeks. The grease keeps the terramycin (TM) dry; since TM degrades quickly once wet, this application method ensures that the TM maintains its activity until the bees encounter it. An important consideration in administering these patties is that they must be inside the cluster or they will be ignored. Therefore, patties go on the top bars immediately above the brood in singles or on the top of the lower box -- if the bees are fully occupying doubles and raising brood below. The patties are typically made as follows: Bill Wilson's Original Formula : This formula for extender patties requires two tablespoons (30 ml) of TM 25 per one pound of mix (1/3 lb. vegetable shortening and 2/3 lb. granulated sugar) to make two half pound patties that should last about 6 weeks. Other TM products: Other, cheaper generic oxtetracycline products can be substituted for Terramycin (TM), if the concentration of active ingredient is maintained. In terms of concentration of active ingredient, Oxysol 62.5 is equivalent to TM-25. The former is rated at 62.5 mg of active ingredient per gram. The latter has 25 grams per 400 grams which works out to 62.5 mg of *active ingredient* per gram of the powdered product. Medivet's Oxysol 25S has 55 mg/gram, and thus requires 13.4% more to do the same job. The above 1/2 pound patties each would each contain about 844 mg active ingredient. Over 6 weeks this releases about 140 grams of the drug per week. Therefore a 132 lb patty batch (40kg sugar and 20kg vegetable shortening) requires about 4000 ml (17 cups) which is about 3.6 kilograms or 8 pounds of TM 25 or Oxysol 62.5. Add about 13.5% more if you use Medivet's Oxysol 25S. For spring use, 1/3 pound or 1/4 pound patties are preferred by some commercial beekeepers for various reasons. For smaller patties, the amount of TM used should be increased proportionately: ie: For 1/4 pound patties double the TM or for 1/3 pound patties, increase the TM by 1/2 while maintaining the other ingredients constant. About 800 mg of active ingredient per patty is the goal. Mann Lake sells pre-made 6 ounce patties that have *1000 mg* of active ingredient each. Large colonies will remove the patties more quickly, while small colonies may take longer to consume the patties, so the dosage is somewhat self-adjusting. Some beekeepers just take a pail of the mix to the yard and trowel some onto each hive, judging dosage by the colony strength. This method makes the patty material harder to move the patty later if it is not consumed by the time frame manipulations begin, but may save on material and time at application time. All remaining traces of patties must be removed by the bees or the beekeeper before supers are applied for honey production, to ensure that contamination of honey for human use does not ocur. Mixing: The mix is made either by hand using a bowl and a spoon, or in quantity using converted 3.5 cubic foot cement mixers. Complete and thorough mixing is very important to ensure even application of the drug. For this reason, the drug should be thoroughly mixed with the sugar before adding the grease. To convert a cement mixer for patty making, the paddles are removed and sometimes a stationary scraper bar is added. The mixture is a soft slurry at room temperature, and can be squashed to fit under a hive lid, but sets a bit over time and in colder environments. The actual patties are made up using a trowel or spatula on 'scale paper', a 8 by 11 inch wax paper that comes pre-cut in boxes of 2,000 from paper or butcher supply houses. The paper can be doubled over the patty, making the patty easier to handle. The whole patty, paper and all goes on the top bars. Useful Measures:. 16 tablespoons = 1 cup 1 cup = 236 ml 1 tablespoon = 15 ml If you want to go by weight, 500 mililitres (1/2 litre) of Oxysol 62.5 weigh about 450 grams. Therefore 15 ml of Oxysol 62.5 weighs 13.5 grams. W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:dicka@cuug.ab.ca & allend@internode.net Honey. Bees, & Art http://www.internode.net/~allend/>