ant's

lee · May 10, 2005, 10:08:42 PM

what can you do if your hive has ant's in it. and they are the big black ant's :(

Horns Pure Honey · May 10, 2005, 11:57:31 PM

sprinkel cinnamon around the hives :D

latebee · May 11, 2005, 12:19:03 AM

I have used borax under old boards that I placed on the ground near hives and it seems to help along with the cinnamon as Horns pure honey said.

jathomas · May 20, 2005, 12:57:32 PM

I went through the ringer with ants the beginning of this year. They were sugar ants, and terribly persistant. I was feeding the bees, trying to get them ready for the nectar flow, and the ants were going crazy to get to the feeder.

I tried cinnamon, borax, oil on the hive stand legs, diatomaceous earth, digging moats around the legs and voodoo. The voodoo helped a little.

The thing I started using did the trick immediately, and has been effective for several months now. GuardStarâ,,¢. It's good for Small Hive Beetles, and good for ants.

I mean, bad for them. Whatever. Not a single ant after that.

Apis629 · May 20, 2005, 04:02:10 PM

Diatematious earth won't do anything unless it is in toothpaste.

Horns Pure Honey · May 20, 2005, 09:05:27 PM

I pick up a friends old hive today and one had little black ants in it. I put the empty brood box in the bottom of the freezer and froze them to death really fast. This works great becuase all are killed without pestasides that can kill my bees. Sadly it only works on empty hives. :D

Jerrymac · May 20, 2005, 09:28:19 PM

I'm beginning to think ant problems must be fairy tales. I had a bunch of comb with honey and stuff in a livestock water tank. There is a hole in the side for draining and is open. Haven't seen any ants in there. Also have spilt suger water here and there. Never see any ants on that stuff either. And we have all sorts of ants around here. :lol:

Barny · May 20, 2005, 09:51:25 PM

Jerrymac, those fire ants will take up residence soon. They are everywhere in town now, so take precautions.

Jerrymac · May 20, 2005, 09:52:51 PM

I know you are not talking about those big red ants, but thought I would ask.

latebee · May 20, 2005, 10:26:47 PM

I too thought ants would never be a problem either,because i never noticed them. But three years ago I had such a terrrible problem that one of my hives absconded-and it was constantly overrun with ants.At the time I thought it might be the screened bottom board causing the problem due to the fact it gave them easy entry. Looking back the screen had nothing to do with it.If the ants want in-- its war.

lee · May 21, 2005, 10:55:53 AM

i killed a lot of them and there eggs that was on the hive cover. some came back and i killed them too,but so far none has came back and i hope they don't. thanks