Damn ants took advantage of my two weak nuc (nucleus) hives and crawled up and infested the place. They were there to steal the 1:1 sugar:water syrup that I had left to feed weak bees, as it was going to be a rainy week. The nucs were made with bees from one of my stronger hives (James) and super-fancy queens that were bred by Michael Palmer in Vermont. Acquired the Queens at a Nuc Workshop run by the Cumberland County Beekeepers Association‘s own Erin Forbes and Larry Peiffer. A very helpful class that I would highly recommend (I think they are going to do it again next year).
Anyway, back to getting rid of the ants. Ground cinnamon sprinkled around the base of the hive and inside the top of the hive are a well know way of keeping the ants at bay – but I learned a super-nifty trick from Erin – I propped the entire nucs up on cinnamon sticks, too (see the red circles in the photo). That way any ant that wants to steal from my bees will have to physically traverse the cinnamon (which apparently they abhor). Take that, ants!
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thanks /i have a new hive and the carpenter ants took it over in 2 hrs or less. thanks i will go get some of your idea ,,,,,,thanks
I had a similar problem here in California. As soon as I put sugar syrup in the hive so they could overwinter the small black ants appeared in numbers. Some other google searches suggested vaseline lines, which does work, but you have to keep it fresh as the ants have a habit of sacrificing a few soldiers and walking over their bodies. Eventually I ordered boric acid online, mixed it with sugar water and placed it in a can with some black mosquito mesh over it to stop the bees from getting in. I placed these ant traps near the hives. The commercial traps that you buy didn’t seem to work at all. Anyway the home made traps really worked well, the ants were diverted to boric acid traps and left the hives alone, and then eventually they died off from feeding the boric acid to their young.
I was wondering about mixing boric acid with sugar. A 10% solution like I use in the house. We have a top that has a foil baking dish in it. Metal mesh that the bees can’t get through. Yet the ants can. It looks like a swimming pool with a screened top. The bees can’t get in and drown. Some of the ants do. I was wanting to put the boric acid mix outside the screened area so the ants can get it.
My girl friend is afraid that some how the bees will get into it.
I’ve had good luck with following the line of ants back to the nest site. Mine have all been in the ground close to the beehive. Then I get two kettles full of boiling water and pour it onto the ants’ nest. Might need to repeat a few times to get them all, but this works really well and doesn’t risk poisoning your bees.
I found ants in the top of my polystyrene hive. They actually made tunnels in the polystyrene. I wonder if borax, sugar and water are the same as boric acid. Is Borax (laundry booster) the same as boric acid?
I also wonder sprinkling boric acid around the perimeter of the hive on the ground would deter ants and if it in any way is harmful to honeybees.
Another thought: Would planting Thyme around hives (lots of blossoms!) would repel mites?
We are beginners. Last year was our first attempt at bee keeping, and we also had ant problems (as well as terrible drought) We’ve tried putting the boxes on a table which was inside a baby pool filled with water. Helped quite a bit. Anyone else tried this, or have warnings against it? Thanks in advance! Happy keeping.