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My Ant Proof Hive Stand Actually Works!

201K views 394 replies 69 participants last post by  soarwitheagles 
#1 ·
After losing two nucs to ants I came up with a solution for those darn Argentine ants that raid hives here in California. I made "T's" with 1" galvanized pipe. At the bottom of the T joint, I slipped on 2" white PVC end caps after drilling holes in them. I hung them upside down on the pipe and filled them with high temp bearing grease that doesn't run in the heat. The rain won't be a factor because they're upside down under hives.

I pounded the pipe legs into the ground 2 feet deep. I secured the 2x6 PT frame to the T joints with plumbing strap. The cross members are resting on the T joints to better handle hive weight. NO MORE ANT PROBLEMS! (Sorry about the finger in the first pic)
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#125 ·
Do you recall the SNL bit with the ... um ... retentive carpenter?

I have a pipe birdfeeder designed to discourage bears. It has suffered a lot of damage over the years, had pipe replaced with heavier, been extended, had pieces bent by falling limbs, etc. Consequently some of the joints have needed to come apart from time to time. The latest was last week to install a squirrel baffle. So I'm in the habit of using Teflon tape on threaded joints for this sort of tinkertoy project so the joints don't rust solid.

Not that it will help with these shapes imbedded in the ground. But maybe in 30 years I'll need to replace the legs.
 
#130 ·
Driving a pipe 2' in wouldn't be too hard.
If it is easy then it wouldn't be stable.

The grease trap is made from PVC so why not keep it all PVC? You can make up 4 legs out of 3 in PVC put an end cap on one end that goes in the ground and a floor flange on the other. Screw the floor flange to a 2x6 between two legs. The grease trap can be made from a 3 to 4 reducer. Carve out the 3 in end so it will pass through the 3 in pipe. Your stringers can be 4x4 or 2x6.
 
#137 ·
They are so you have to get the next size up so it will just slip over the pipe then use a set screw collar to adjust the height or you could drill and tap the flange to lock it to the shaft if you have a tap.
 
#138 · (Edited)
???? :scratch:

Floor flanges and pipe are threaded to NPT specifications. Unlike machine screw threads, NPT threads are tapered so the only location that it is possible to thread with NPT threads is at the END of the pipe or fitting.



By the time you find a practical solution for these issues, the $3-$4 bag of concrete suggested by Charlie B above will look like a cheap solution!


:gh:
 
#140 ·
Steel floor flanges, whether you attempt to "pin" them or not, are expensive. :eek:

If you use 1 1/2" pipe, flanges are about $13 each and even flanges for 1/2" pipe are nearly $10 each:
http://www.lowes.com/Search=floor+f...Id=10051&N=0&newSearch=true&Ntt=floor+flange#!

Even when you are done horsing around with getting a flange installed, the area of the dirt that the flange covers is clearly inferior to a bag of concrete!

If your pipe is at risk of sinking into the ground, why pay more money to buy a flange when a $3-$4 bag of concrete is a better solution? :s



:gh:
 
#142 · (Edited)
Of course, you need to make choices based on your local conditions, particularly soil conditions.

Somehow, I suspect that adding a floor flange to the pipe legs of the hive stand shown in post #111 of this thread won't do much to solve the problem.


My hives sit on concrete blocks. And if I'm not mistaken, Ace's do also. :)


If you wished to avoid digging, and still incorporate an ant block similar in concept to the one in the current thread, one option is to set out some concrete support blocks, then construct a variation of the stand shown in the thread linked below, incorporating grease cups.
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?240405-Homemade-PVC-hive-stand

Personally, I'd try to make the stand as low as possible but still allow access to the grease cups.

A possible alternative to attempting to ant-proof the hive stand is to to just set the hives directly on the blocks, then set out ant bait around the hives. An inexpensive ant bait can be made from Borax (laundry aid) and sugar with enough water to make a paste. Put it in containers that ants can get into but bees cannot.
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#143 ·
Somehow, I suspect that adding a floor flange to the pipe legs of the hive stand shown in post #111 of this thread won't do much to solve the problem.
Sure they would. You could even drill a hole in a board or a patio block and have the floor flange rest on that. All the concrete does is increase the diameter of the pipe to create a footing. Unless you dig a hole deep enough to go below frost line the pipe will go up and down with the frost. If it is below the frost line it is a standard footing if it is above the frost line it is a floating footing. For beehives it doesn't matter. If the soil is of the same consistency the hives will rise and fall equally.
 
#145 ·
It isn't worth buying a drill. Just take two pavers or four would be better and nest them up next to the pipe in two layers. You are going to be smart enough to put the second layer of pavers 90 degrees to the first layer and then the floor flange rests on the top layer. If you do have a drill you could use a pressure treated 2x6. It will last a long time.
 
#146 ·
Or you could use a $3-$4 bag of concrete to serve the same function as the floor flange and all those patio blocks combined. :) No drilling of the pipe for the flange "pin" needed either.

You don't even have to dig a hole for the concrete around the post. A simple form made out of 2x4's sitting on the ground will serve to retain the concrete until its set.
 
#147 ·
You don't even have to dig a hole for the concrete around the post. A simple form made out of 2x4's sitting on the ground will serve to retain the concrete until its set.
If you don't pin the pipe to the concrete the pipe will shrink in winter and it will be like the concrete isn't even there. Up here a fencing contractor will drill a 10" dia hole in the ground over 3 ft deep. The entire hole is filled with concrete and the pipe is set above the bottom of the hole. Now that is for a fence that has almost no vertical load.

This may be even an easier idea. People buy exercise equipment and before it gets used 10 times it finds its way to self storage. People who run self storage facilities have to throw this crap away because it is heavy and people end up leaving it behind. Seek one out and get some dumb bells which you can use as the flange and they already come with a set screw collar. Moving them around is not fun.
 
#149 ·
Dig ten inch diameter hole three feet deep, fill with concrete, and stick a pipe down in it, and what will happen? The pipe is trapped in a cup of concrete, water will collect in and around it, and the pipe will rust off. With a wooden post you get a post sitting in water ... even pressure treated will have a short life.

Dig the hole, put a stone or paver at the bottom, put the pipe or post against the paver. If you want to use concrete, put some gravel at the bottom of the hole so water drains out, then concrete above that. Don't put your pipe or pole into a concrete cup.
 
#150 ·
A galvanized pipe in a concrete footer will last at least 50 years.

Rader, no I don't suggest a hive stand on two pipe legs as I said in the beginning because of bending moments. Four legs would be bare minimum for me.
 
#151 · (Edited)
> will last at least 50 years.

Did you look that up in some kind of engineering book? :scratch:


Wouldn't service life depend on - at a minimum - soil conditions, size of the pipe, stress (flexing) applied, and the specific components of the concrete used? Is there fly ash in the concrete?

Are we going to go back to that thread where you insisted that concrete wasn't affected by freeze-thaw damage?



:gh:
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#154 ·
Fort Bee will have a 3 joule fence charger, rated to get the attention of bears. In bee class a few weeks back one of the experts reported bear droppings about one bear length from their fence.

Behind the electric fence is grounded remesh. The first time I saw remesh used as fencing it was on a tiger cage. It is also sometimes used as fencing around garbage bins. Anything getting across the electric fence and the remesh is pretty much guaranteed to get a "negative reinforcement."

But now you have me thinking I should have elevated it. The fence posts would hold up a deck ... maybe I should add a second story?
 
#156 ·
Charlie B, thank you so much for sharing. I tested the area I put my hives on, about a week before I got my bees. I put a small chicken waterer filled with syrup on a raised platform, next afternoon I checked it, and it was COVERED with ants. So, got all the supplies I needed for my ant proof stand, I used 2x4's, wooden dowels and 2" end caps, and hi heat disc brake grease, works like a charm!
 
#157 ·
Charlie B, thank you so much for sharing. I put a small chicken waterer filled with syrup on a raised platform, next afternoon I checked it, and it was COVERED with ants. So, got all the supplies I needed for my ant proof stand, I used 2x4's, wooden dowels and 2" end caps, and hi heat disc brake grease, works like a charm!
I'm glad to share. I took bits and pieces from other designs to come up with something that works against these dreaded Argentine Ants. The wood design is less expensive but a little more work to build. My pipe stands are still standing well with little maintenance.
 
#158 ·
Since I was building Fort Bee I had rented a one-man gas auger with an 8" diameter bit. I was drilling holes up to 3 ft deep. Now I'm spoiled. Lots of fist-sized rocks up there would complicate driving pipes into the ground, although I did manage to get two 8 ft ground rods in for the electric fence using a T-post driver (you have to drive in the last 2 ft with a sledge).

A T-post driver might successfully drive pipe into the ground, but if you bang on a threaded end you'd certainly destroy the threads. Might try a female coupling over the threads to bang against. A T-post driver is a common tool for agricultural fence posts, a heavy piece of pipe with a heavy plug in one end and a pair of handles. I find mine has many uses.
 
#159 ·
Since I was building Fort Bee I had rented a one-man gas auger with an 8" diameter bit.
I have a ford 601 and a 6 in. dia post hole digger. I have to be right on the clutch because it will stall the tractor. Typically I have to dig 10-12 inches at a time and pull it out with the 3 point. I dug one hole with a strapping boy and myself using a hand hold and I was fearing for my life. That's when I went to tractor supply and bought the post hole digger.
 
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