I STARTED A NEW NUC SAT. WITH A NEW QUEEN AND ALL. I PUT 1 FRAME OF POLLEN AND HONEY , 1 FRAME OF BROOD WITH EGGS, AND A FRAME OF BEES WITH SOME HONEY POLLEN & BROOD WITH NEW QUEEN IN CAGE. SUNDAY MORNING I WALKED DOWN TO THE HIVE AND THE NUC WAS BUZZING AWFUL LOUD. I WENT BACK ABOUT A HOUR LATER AND I OPENED THE TOP AND REMOVED THE INTER-COVER ONLY TO FIND THAT ANTS HAD TAKEN OVER THIS HIVE AND DROVE THE BEES OUT AND KILLED THE QUEEN AND ATTENDANTS. WHAT SHOULD I HAVE DONE BEFORE HAND, MAY GROUND TREATMENT?
I have ants also and this is what I do. I have my hive stand on plastic sheets over the ground. I put amdro down on the ground around the hive, does not hurt the bees at all.
I put grease on the legs of the stand, I use axle grease because it stands up to rain better. I have killed all the grass around the hive also.
This has helped me to control lots of bugs, the plastic will also help with the hive beetles, by not allowing them to burrow into the ground at the hive and repopulate.
You can do either of the following, both are easy & inexpensive :
1 - put hive stand on short pieces (3" tall) of 2" pvc, which set in small conatainers of oil, ants won't cross the oil. I have mine on the pvc set in cheap metal ashtrays filled with oil.
2 - sprinkle cinnamon liberaly around hive, will have to reapply as necessary, ie after it rains.
Both will keep the ants at bay.
Hello
Colvon I see what your problem is and i agree with the others i have a big problem with ants but i found that cinnamon around the hive and in the inner covers help keep them away from my hives. Oh did you try the vannilla spray please let me know if you did and if it worked.
Tom
Oh did you try the vannilla spray please let me know if you did and if it worked.
not yet, maybe try it later. not sure what i need to do at the moment.
colvin