Getting rid of ants

Pests and Diseases
1

Advice for getting rid of ants. Au.

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Takes some effort to make, but this is what I am using this year:
http://forum.honeyflow.com/t/hive-base-screened-bottom-board-modification-idea/3831/91?u=dawn_sd

If you have a bulk food supplier nearby, ants hate cinnamon, so you could try sprinkling that on the ground around the hive - it doesn’t hurt bees.

3

Thanks I will try cinnamon, thanks

4

Another simple thing to try is a generous smear of vaseline or petroleum jelly (the stuff dermatologists recommend for severe dry skin) around the legs of the hive stand, if you have a hive stand - ants don’t like to cross that greasy line. If not, see above… :wink:

5

Equal parts cheap jelly, borax and water works well on ants.

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Anyone try rotten orange juice & dry molasses? A local radio gardener from Dallas swears by it for fire ants. Works too, if you stay on top of them, and they usually only move once, if at all. It doesn’t faze the sugar ants & I now have the first red ant den I’ve seen in 30 years.

Would the citric acid kill the bees?

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Not heard the jelly ( do you mean Jam) one before do you mean crystallised jelly?

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Michael means cheap Jam - more sugar than real fruit. :smile:

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9

The Borax doesn’t harm the bees?

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It does. You just have to put it in places where bees are unlikely or unable to get at it - plus they don’t usually go for processed fruit, unless there is a nectar dearth

11

Thanks for your help.
Cheers

12

Has anyone heard of using salt spread around the base of the hives? Suppose to deter ants and also dehydrate an SHB larva that crawls out of the hive to pupate. Like to know if this works?

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I haven’t heard of that. But any rainfall would wash it into the environment, and at least in my garden, lots of plants are not very salt-tolerant. Our avocado tree has brown leaf tips from being 100 feet from a salt-water bay… :neutral_face:

Dawn

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Thanks Dawn, Yes I agree that salt is pretty toxic to plants in large doses, certainly worth keeping that in mind.

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Rod Well you certainly wont have slugs or snails :skull_crossbones:

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Well “Jam” here in the US means it has real fruit in it (not strained out). Jelly is mostly juice and pectin and sugar. The point is that it is inexpensive. Jam usually costs more than jelly (by a little). Cheap grape jelly is about as cheaply as I can do this. The bees have never shown any interest in the bait that I’ve noticed. I might be hesitant to leave it in the open in a dearth, but it’s never been an issue. One could take a “tupperware” sandwhich container and drill some 1/8" (3mm) holes in it that the ants can get through and the bees can’t. You can also try to trace the trail of ants back to the source and put it on the anthill.

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17

we just installed a simple “Sirena Tuna Tin” ant trap system:

flow wintering-2-9.jpg1800Ă—1202 1.23 MB

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18

I solved the problem using powdered cinnamon and 4 large coffee cans filled with cheap cooking oil. No more ants. See pic. Apparently, ants hate cinnamon, but bees don’t seem to mind its fragrance.

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19

Years ago ants invaded my kitchen- I tried to use cinnamon and salt to stop them- but their columns pushed straight through my cinnamon moats- quickly clearing a path for the marching hordes- seemingly unfazed…

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Maybe diatomacious earth?