Hello,
Use lemon juice they are powerful for ant rid simply you mix lemon juice with water(2 liters) and wash your floor with it because they hate the smell of lemon.
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The borax and syrup work fine, but borax, grape jelly and water in equal parts is a bit more attractive due to the smell and flavor.
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1 part borax
1 part honey
1 part peanut butter
mix and serve this up to ants for their timely death
ants at times want to feed on protein (peanut butter) or sugar (honey)
this meets whatever they want at the time, and they do die, but requires constant feeding for a couple of weeks as it needs to be brought back to the queen ant, as she needs to die…which then will kill the nest
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Is the ant cap on the roof for flying SHB?
Do you have bees falling in and drowning? I see some folks with funnels or cups above the container to prevent bees from falling in.
We tried the borax recipes but only worked for a short time. We tried bowls of water under the legs, but you have to remember keeping them full. Then we tried oil, but found dead bees in it. We tried vaseline but kept drying. Then we tried lube/grease and as much as I hate the stuff, it worked best and lasted longest.
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This what I did with my base and filled the tins with used engine oil. No bees drowned, no water from rain and it has worked for twenty months and still going.
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And btw a very solid choice in tuna there, my favorite
You can say that again. Chilli is my favourite.
I trashpicked a goodly wad of that stuff - or similar - from a dumpster at a home remodel a little while ago, thinking it would be useful as hive wrap for winter maybe. So you’re just slapping it on instead of the wood gear! Do the bees not propolise it as badly as the wood & how does it help with ants?
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The bees propolise it but it peels back easily for inspection. If not, the hive makes quick work of it.
I’m assuming there are no ants because there is no room between the telescoping to cover and the foil insulation material.
Speaking of telescoping top covers, they are next to find their way to the dumpster in favor of migratory covers or a solid piece of plywood. Those things are ant farms as well.
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Not a huge fan of the telescoping covers either, they always seem to hang up as I’m trying to fit them back on & it ends up squashing bees.
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I’ve seen your brothers hives at Murray’s Beach… I go running around there and liked to check out the setup to get ideas. I’d wondered what the sheet metal was under them. Did you get the ant caps locally? and how did you get them in that size?
Hi Melissa,
Thank you for your email.
My brother had them custom made at a local sheetmetal shop and they do keep the ants out.
I have come up with an idea to eliminate the small hive beetle and to get details please visit nohivebeetle.com
Should you be interested you can purchase these from me on the website.
Regards,
John Hendriks
0412543604
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Would these ant traps work if you staled them around hive? I don’t think bees can access the bait at all? Would there be any problems for the hive?
I think you are fighting a loosing battle W’queen.
My strategy is to smear grease on the hive legs and make sure no grass will make a bridge from the ground to the hive, bypassing the greased legs. I apply the grease every few months if it dries out or becomes ineffective. It’s pretty much the only effective way I found to keep ants out of the hives. It’s cheap, low maintenance, and relatively non-polluting too.
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Anything you do to eliminate the ants will be a step forward. Greasing the legs on a Flow Hive2 is popular. I try to find any ants nests around my hive and dust the entrance with Hovex ant dust from Coles which is very effective if dusted on the ant entrance. It seems bees are not interested at all in the Hovex, it is taken into the nest by the ants and it will have died out in two days. Any ant nest within about 80 meters can find a hive eventually.
Cheers
I spoke to a local beekeeper and he puts flea treatment* for dogs on/in a blob of dog food. It’s placed near the hive and the ants carry it back to the nest to kill the queen and nest and the bees won’t touch it. By flea treatment, I mean that gel you squirt on the back of their necks (not all of it, just a small squirt). He claims it’s never missed.
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Have you lost many bees in the oil.