Hi Kirsten, OMG I know we breed them big in Aus but that 12cm was my typo error and should be 12mm… That is still a large ant. I noticed today there were more lurking and this lot were without wings so perhaps they drop them!!!
I do think they are bothering my little Bees as they have now started making there entrance narrower (maybe to keep these big critter out) with just enough width for them to come and go and the length of opening is about 9cm, yes got that cm right this time…
I do have a pic of the entrance I took today with little heads poking out, will get one of the “log” tomorrow. Sorry I cant get pics of inside the log as it is all sealed up as mentioned above…
Hey Chrissy - very cool hive you have there! I’d love to see more pics if you can post.
About those ants, I believe they’re carpenter ants & are also using your hive as a home. Do you see any ant-sized tunnels or holes with little piles of sawdust nearby? If they’re really established in that log you’re probably best off relocating the bees, because the usual (natural) methods of ant control will be either ineffective or too tricky.
The ones used for the common smaller ants people see around hives are grease, cinnamon & borax/sugar traps. As you’ve seen, these big gals traipse right over cinnamon & probably won’t be too fussed about grease. In fact they just might eat it. Borax & sugar - same, won’t kill 'em. Plus the holes you’d have to allow for these ants to get at borax syrup in a jar could also admit bees, thus kill the bees.
For carpenter ants you need diatomaceous earth. But, DE also kills bees! There’s info about using drinking straws filled with DE-laced peanut butter, but you’d be better able to see how that would work in your setup without harming bees, if that’s feasible.
Keep us posted on your interesting hive & its health
I thought it might be but didn’t want to assume Ants swarm too like bees at this time of year. So yes they do lose the wings, they’re seeking a new nest site, so might be worth trying to deter them from setting up home with the bees. How I don’t know…Thanks for the photo too. I’d love to have some myself but am pretty sure just too cold for them down here.
Hi Eve and Kirsten, well thats not good news for my little bees…Have now researched Carpenter Ants and I think you are both correct and the diagnosis is pretty awful. I know I cant use any sprays whatsoever so at the moment I will persevere with my own method of getting the ants to come out of hiding which is a spray bottle with water down in a couple of crevices I have found and they come running out and it becomes a race to see who moves quicker. My hand has been winning so far. Today I will be applying the axle grease to chair legs. Yes, I have also noticed wood shavings down the other end under the piece of tin when I removed it
I will keep all of you informed how I go over the next week with the spray/run/squish technique. If that fails I will enlist the help of a professional native bee person to see if getting the bees out of the log completely is necessary. Thanks for your help Chrissy
Have you consider relocating your hive or attempting to split it into another log?
Also, native bees are apparently not as susceptible to insecticides/pesticides as european honey bees. It might be possible for you to consider targeted applications of ant powder…
Evening Alan, I have some ant sand that I use around the house when other smaller ants become a pest, is that the type of ant powder you are refering to to sprinkle near my bees?? The log hive weighs about 40kg and is very solid, so I am not sure how to go about even getting it open. Chain saw would be rather vicious and axe strikes would probably kill or chase my bees altogether. They have been in it for 25yrs so many many generations. I suppose if worse comes to worse I will have to consider it though. There is a rather large crevice running along the inside of one fork do you think I could put ant sand in that and then cover it with tape to keep any bees out (they do not seem to go in there) and maybe that will lock any ants in there and they will eat it and die. Sounds like another plan of attack or would that chemical be too close to the bees. Think I am starting to waffle a bit here… thanks for your advice and link which I have found good reading. Chrissy
Good luck Chrissy, look forward to hearing how you go. Before you start putting any insecticides/pesticides near the bees , perhaps wait & see how they cope with them themselves. It’s not an uncommon occurrence i imagine & they would have own strategies to deal with other insects seeking to occupy their space? If they have been there 25 years I imagine they may well have had to deal with similar at some stage. Not knowing effects of pesticides on native bees, I would be using the strategy you described to assist the bees in their defense & keep a close eye on?
I agree with Kirsten. When I mentioned about the ant sand I wouldn’t be putting it too close to the hive but instead trying to follow the ant trail back to their nest and strategically apply it on the ant hwy. Ant sand can disrupt the life cycle of European honey bees. I’m not sure what it does to native bees
So I just received 4 frames to get my flow started and am feeding them sugar syrup from a jar feeder at the front entrance. Of course ants have zoned in on it, now they don’t seem to be bothering the bees so should I just let them bee?
I’ve heard some say that ants can eventually carry off a good amount of feed in a relatively short time, once the nest is onto the food source. Then, I’d think your risk only increases as they could really undermine honey storage as their own colony grows. Other members here have lost hives to certain ant species!
Take a look at the Pests & Diseases section on the forum - people have posted some great pics of very creative ant traps & barriers! You might also consider a different feeding method less accessible to ants - and wasps. I found that the space between the inner cover and the gabled Flow roof is just right for a baggie feeder, and well protected from robbers.
My ant trap is a simple borax-laced syrup one: small jar containing a wad of paper towel for ants to walk on & eat from, filled partway with my deadly syrup & covered with with aluminum foil secured with a rubber band or jar lid rim, with fork holes poked into it that allow ants but not bees. I placed this right next to the hive where I always saw a few ants crawling up it. You can alter the amount of borax according to whether you want to kill on ingestion or to be brought back to the ant nest, supposedly. I chose the latter, lower proportion but I always see many dead ants inside the jar. I never see them crawling on or in the hive now!
Communal native bees often have a spiral nest which is easy to defend from predators. I believe the bees will be capable of defending their nest from the ants.
Ants swarm too like bees at this time of year. So yes they do lose the wings, they’re seeking a new nest site, so might be worth trying to deter them from setting up home with the bees. How I don’t know…Thanks for the photo too. I’d love to have some myself but am pretty sure just too cold for them down here.
