Results of the Grease Patties

 

I would love to tell you that my Grease Pattie experiment in Hive #1 has made a real difference, but I have to honestly say that I have no scientific proof if the grease patties I used in hive #1 worked or not.

I worry a little that they didn't have maximum effect since I had to adapt their use to my Top Bar Hive. I placed them as best I could, in areas where they would walk across them as the directions say but because of the way the entry holes are placed 2" up from the floor in the hive, I could not put the Patties where the bees would be forced to walk across them as they entered the hive.

I instead put them across the entry to the syrup feeder. This worked fine for a couple of weeks. But after a while the nectar flow began and fewer and fewer bees crossed that threshold. As I watched their reaction to the Grease Patties I would have to say they seem to have no interest in eating on them. I am not sure if this is normal (I suspect that it is, since the instructions for using the Grease Patties seemed more about placement than feeding) but it was true for my bees.

 

What I can say for sure is that shortly after the bees stopped using the feeder with the grease patties in front of it , I took the syrup jar out and left the Patties. A week later when I opened the hive I discovered that the bees had decided that the Grease Patties were a fine place to pile dead bees and hive debris. This message seemed pretty clear to me, so I took the Grease Patties out.

There have been some drastic fluctuations in the hive population and I believe it is because of mites. 

Hive #1, June 25, 2011

Hive #1, August 2, 2011

Hive #1, August 28, 2011

Shortly after all the fussing with the Grease Patties, I did notice an improvement in the hive health. Previously I had been seeing a few bees with wing deformities, a sure sign of mite infestation since the virus is spread by Varoa Mites, but over the last few months Hive #1 has built up substantially from its beleaguered numbers and seems to be doing well. I haven't seen any more wing deformities either I have no idea if the Grease Patties helped with this or if they just managed a rebound naturally despite the Mites and the very poor weather this spring.

Even though I don't really know if the Grease Patties worked I think I will put a new batch of Grease Patties into the hive for this Fall. Even if they only helped a little I think it is worth the effort.

According to most sources I have found, mites reach their peak population in a hive at the end of the summer, just as the bee population decreases to get ready for the winter. This is why hives seem to mysteriously die out in the winter. The mite load is just too great for each individual bee and weakened colonies cannot cope with the hardships of winter.
According to the Florida State Extension video on Varoa Mites, if you open your hive in the spring and only have a pile of dead bees, it is almost certainly because the bees had a Varoa Mite infestation in the Fall. Because they are weakened by the mites they slowly die off as the Winter sets in. The hive population slowly decreases until they reach a critical point where they cannot maintain a "ball" big enough to keep warm.
I really hope that doesn't happen to Hive #1.