Placing patties of sugar and grease in the hive is a holistic treatment for tracheal mites that you can (and should) use year-round. As the bees feed on the sugar, they become coated with grease. The grease impairs the mite’s ability to reproduce or latch onto the bees’ hairs. Whatever the scientific reason, the treatment works effectively and is your number-one natural defense against tracheal mites.
Place one patty on the top bars of the brood chamber, flattening out the patty as needed to provide clearance for the inner cover and replacing it as the bees consume it. One patty should last a month or more.
Here’s a recipe for grease patties:
1-1/2 pounds of solid vegetable shortening (such as Crisco)
4 pounds of granulated sugar
1/2 pound honey
Optional: Add 1/3 cup of mineral salt (the orange/brown salt available at farm supply stores). Pulverize the salt in a blender, breaking it into a fine consistency. The bees seem to like it.
Mix all these ingredients together until smooth. Form into about a dozen hamburger-size patties. Unused patties may be stored in a resealable plastic food bag and kept frozen until ready to use.