Black ants in feeder

[JWW]

Hello Everyone!

I have just one hive and this is my first year. I am using a hive top feeder and when I went out just now to add syrup there were dozens of drowned black ants in it. I sifted out what I could but it was very difficult to get them all out.
Will the dead ants hurt the bees in any way by being in the syrup?

I am using an outer cover secured with a cinder block and there appears to be a good seal or at least good enough to keep any stray bees from gaining access from the outside.
Any suggestions on keeping the ants out?

Thanks!
John

[Michael Bush]

>Will the dead ants hurt the bees in any way by being in the syrup?

No.

>I am using an outer cover secured with a cinder block and there appears to be a good seal or at least good enough to keep any stray bees from gaining access from the outside.
Any suggestions on keeping the ants out?

You can mix some borax and jelly and put it out for the ants.  But the ants never seem to actually cause problems for me.

[qa33010]

John, I had a problem with ants last year and used a film of FGMO around the base.  Since my problem was their gaining access from the outside I used my finger and spread it around the base of the hive.  I watched a few try to get in through my SBB and the bees kept them out.  The FGMO kept them from gaining access from anywhere on the outside and unless we had a bad storm the film stayed on for quite awhile.  If I noticed any on the outside of the hive I crushed them in a satisfactory manner and used the same finger (gave me the illusion of an ant head on a pole) to spread FGMO again.  This kept them out of my top feeder.  Good luck.

David

[JWW]

Thanks for your responses, I will try both.

I went out again today and checked and I think that they have gotten the message that if they go in they will drown and won't come back out. There was only a dozen or so in there after the same time period.