Missing bees & ANTS

queenb64 · May 16, 2006, 02:57:34 PM

I went to check my bees today, and the colony was so small, smaller than before. I expected to see it had grown. Bu I did see ants,so after I read a few posts about ants killing off hives, I RAN down there with a jar of cinnnamon. I sprinkled it all around the edge on the top, all around on the ground. When i took of the cover guess what? The ants had gotten up between the tin of the cover and the cover, and nested. I tokk it and threw it down and ant eggs kept coming out. It was a big ant nest in there!! I layed it down and walked all over hoping to SQUISH anything in there. Hoping they will leave the hive alone. I did see bees with pollen in their sacs, Do you think my queen is still alive? I couldnt find her earlier.I did see brown caps. No white capped honey. Please help me save my hive.And found several frames of comb that was abandoned, inspected it didnt see any larva, a few cells had liquid. What do I do?

Kirk-o · May 16, 2006, 06:55:35 PM

Hey Buddy I've had bees leave because of anta (abscond) especialy in the july august when its dry.Cinnamon didn't work for me Boric acid did though I mixed up some grape jelly and Boric acid the stuff you use for roaches.I put that on the ground they take it home it kills the queen I also sprinkle it on the ground I just kill them I also have a can of ant spray if I need it I'm very careful not to spill any sugar water or leave a mess.But if you have a strong hive they do better
kirko

P.S. good luck

queenb64 · May 16, 2006, 07:03:11 PM

its budette lol, thanks for the info, what did your combs look like were they abandoned? Out of ten frames theres probably 6, the bees are busy, and they are bringing in pollen. But there should have been more bees.Do you think because they are bringin in pollen shes in there? I couldnt find her but I didnt look at every frame. I saw ants and needed to tend to them

qa33010 · May 16, 2006, 09:03:45 PM

Hey queen64!!!

I just finished using some mineral oil to film my newest hives and checked my feral hive to see if it needed refilming. I take the FGMO and use my finger to smear it along the side of the SBB. This keeps the ants off and has stayed on for me even through all but the heavier rain storms. Since part of my day is spent in front of the hives I am always aware of ant or any other problems. With a solid bottom board it seems to work great. With a SBB I also use my finger on the inside portion of a weak (two of mine) hive to help them keep out the ants. Cinnamon worked last year until it rained or something and we are too busy using Boric Acid on the wood roaches to keep them out of the house (it's an old house).

Good Luck!

David

Oh yeah...I'm still using the same bottle of FGMO I picked up at Wally world last spring. We use a lot of cinnamin cooking.

Kirk-o · May 16, 2006, 10:04:15 PM

Hey Buddy
Well when my bees absconded they just left the left honey pollen and brood.If your bees are working and bring in pollen thats a good sign they can recover probably.When I feed my bees I make sure I don't spill any and I put a circle of Boric acid around the hive
kirko

Brian D. Bray · May 17, 2006, 03:10:30 AM

When bees abscond they leave everything they can't carry with them behind, brood, pollen, honey--it suddenly becomes a ghost town--like in the movies when the show the meal still on the table but nobody home.
If the bees are still there but no eggs you are not so bad off. I'd take a frame of brood with fresh eggs from another hive (assuming you have one) and see if they build a queen cell. A queen cell in the middle of the frame would indicate the hive went queenless for what ever reason and they're rasing a new one which will correct any problems. Don't worry about multiple cells as the extras are insurance.
If you don't have another hive you might want to beg or buy one from another beekeeper.

queenb64 · May 17, 2006, 03:50:28 AM

thanks , as usual, i knew I could count on yall. I like the idea of the mineral oil. The boric acid I know works, but with pets and all around I dont feel safe using it. It rained of course after i did the cinnamon.so Ill have to do something again. I know Im gonna have to take the telescoping cover off because they made the nest in it between the wood and tin. Just couldnt do it because of the approaching rains. It was off and on today.

By the way>> my grandma used the boric acid to keep roaches ant ants away, she mixed boric acid, onion and sugar, the onion attracted the bugs to it, the sugar made it yummy, and of course when the took it outside and drank water, poof..gone