I'm finding some very persistant ants getting into my NUC feeders, and now a pollen trap. Do you find you any effective steps against ants? I've tried diatomacious earth, I've made some poltical sign poison traps with ant gel (and put them between the collection try of the pollen trap and its bottom, away from pollen and bees), but the ants just keep showing up...
Last night I put a perimiter band of poison powder down around the hive stand
I've read that ants don't do much harm, so I've never really tried to combat them aggressively; but them getting into a pollen trap is little more than I am willing to accept on a live and let live basis. Your thoughts and experiences are appreciated.
cinnamon powder helps until the rain washes it away.I would be careful with the poison powder given the way bees will try anything when pollen is in short supply.
never had luck with my ants. Walked over the Cinnamon like nothing. DE worked for about 2 days, then they just ignored it. Cin. extract worked for 3 days or so but not worth the $$ for the coverage area and it evaporated quick. Borax/syrup baits are your best bet, but don't expect it to wipe out the colony, just reduce the population down. High temp bearing grease on the stand legs seems to be a favorite, but that just keeps them out, doesn't take care of the problem
Put the hive stand legs in containers w/ some water in them. If there is no contact between the container sides and the stand legs (and no weeds touching the stand/hive) the ants will not be able to get on the hives since they can't cross the water barrier. Must keep the containers clean of leaves and debris so the ants don't find a way across.
If they are fire ants then use some oil on top of the water--they can raft across water (an adaptation to periodic flooding of their native habitat).
Tanglefoot around the legs has worked for me too but the ants will get across in time if persistent (never tried w/ fire ants). Any method needs to prevent access long enough for them to forget about the food there. This may be a few days or weeks depending on the ant species.
My main concern is a medium sized blank ant, but I have observed several species. This particular black ant is more numerous and persistant than the red sugar ant, or larger looking carpenter ant. I'll have to figure out some type of hive stand to do an oil or water barier. Right now I'm 4x4 on cinder blocks
My backyard has every kind of ant but fire ants and grease at the bottom of the hive stand legs is the only way I could stop the ant train. Here are some pictures of what I did. The first one is the the cheapest using tuna cans and ripped 2x4's for legs. http://www.flickr.com/photos/87556199@N02/8311221444/
Works for me on the stands w/ paver bricks for legs. Just be sure to spread it ALL the way around. Or you could do the same thing on the 4x4s on each side of the hive (I always end up putting something on it when I do it this way). Stuff seems to last a while too.
And do not forget that a hill of ants can carry a kg of honey in one night. So keep ants away from the hives if you want honey.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Beesource Beekeeping Forums
1.8M posts
54.8K members
Since 1999
A forum community dedicated to beekeeping, bee owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about breeding, honey production, health, behavior, hives, housing, adopting, care, classifieds, and more!