Uninvited Ants Here

I’ve noticed ants around the base of the hive stand and all around the bottom board. I’ve placed 4 mason jars with borax sugar water but that does not seem to be helping.

I read somewhere, not sure if it was a Flow Forum post or somewhere else, to try cinnamon. Since reading that, it is what i use directly around my hives, wherever I see the ants path. I just sprinkle a little cinnamon, in a small line, against the hive and they avoid it. I also use Diatomaceous earth around our cinder blocks, where they meet the ground. Both have been very helpful to us this past year, in controlling pests around the hive. It doesn’t stop them completely, but definitely helps.

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Just curious, @JamieB how long have you had the jars out? They seem to work best when they’re right up against the hive, in the ants’ path :ant::ant::ant:

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You can also search the forum for ant moats. There is actually a new product which I think I will try on the bases of my ant moats, called AntCANT. Checkout coupon BeeFair10 will give you a 10% discount if you buy it direct from them using PayPal.
https://www.crittertechnology.com/shop

If you don’t want to make moats, you could perhaps run a strip of metal waterproof tape around the middle of your hive stand, and coat it with AntCANT.
https://www.amazon.com/Scotch-Aluminum-Foil-3311-Silver/dp/B00O9R4K7O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1529860589&sr=8-4&keywords=metal+tape

The strip would need to be below your hive strap though, or the ants will just use that as an access bridge. Yes, I have had a long and determined battle with ants too… :face_with_symbols_over_mouth: :rage:

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I had them out for 2 weeks or more and never saw any additional ants other than right beside the feeder. We opened the hive to check on things last weekend and made the call to bring them in because we didn’t think it was enough to make an impact on the bees. The jars were gone for 4 days or so and the ants came back and brought friends. I immediately put the fresh sugar water solution back out after cleaning everything up. The new jars have been out for a couple of days now but ants remain all around the base of the hive along with on my bottom white board too😬. I will put them closer to the base and sprinkle cinnamon too. There are ants
Also on the side of the flow super and along the ridge of the roof. I noticed about an hour ago that there are about 20 or so dead bees just tossed out the front door. The undertaker bees usually fly way off then come back. Help😳

It is very clear that I’ve got to get a handle on these ants too. What works best?

I haven’t tried the AntCANT yet, but several people in my club have, and they like it. You do need a smooth steep surface for it to work though, which is why I suggested the tape. If you just painted it onto the porous cinder blocks, I don’t think that would go well.

I am using these at the moment, and they are very successful:

I wouldn’t assume there’s anything amiss with the dead bees, could be the colony is just too busy now to bother with flying them off…but worth keeping an eye on. Meanwhile, have you pulled out the coreflute recently? I’ve had ants filling the channels with eggs on two occasions, so gross to pull out the board and have them shower out the sides :unamused:…I did away with my slider boards as a result.

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I had thousands of ants living under the removable panels of my observation hive. After removing the ants, I sprayed everything I could with canola cooking spray. Ants don’t like walking over it. No more ants. It doesn’t affect the bees whatsoever.

That’s something you could try, spray all around & under your bottom board. Just avoid the entrance, I feel.

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I did pull the coreflute out and there were more ants present than before which raised the red flag. I popped it on the ground and realized they were inside also. I just want to get a handle on anything that could hurt the hive since it is my first and only♥️

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That’s a wonderful suggestion! Thank you so much!!

Good one Jeff. Simple solutions mostly the best.

@JamieB Ants in rear viewing hatch - #14 by busso with one hive this may be of interest to you.

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Hi Busso, We found that it works great in the kitchen. I never have a problem with ants in the kitchen, but they seem to worry Wilma. I must admit that I didn’t want ants nests under the covers of my observation hive, with only 2 frames of bees inside.

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image

Make sure you are using real cinnamon. I purchased cinnamon from Amazon.

I mix the cinnamon and vaseline together to make a paste and spread the paste on the legs of my hives.

The combination of the vaseline and cinnamon stops the Ants in their tracks.

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That sounds like a great idea also, I bet it doesn’t wash away easily either!!

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Thank you for calling that thread to my attention! I will take a look at that ASAP!

https://forum.honeyflow.com/search?q=ants

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I have ants near and around most of my hives. Touching wood: none of the hives has ever been invaded. The ants pick up scraps at the edges but the bees seem to keep them out of the main hive.

I guess it all depends what type of ants you have- but some seem to be relatively harmless.

My brother used to keep hives on KI- they were just sitting in fields in the ground. There were all types of ants around. I’m not sure that commercial beekeepers do much in the way of any ant-proofing at all?

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Hello this is Critter Technology the manufacturer of AntCant. One of your Flow Hive Forum members reached out to us and asked us to join in the discussion. Specifically, the stability of AntCant to exposure to water. Water will not harm AntCant. If the water is a forceful stream, for example, from a sprayed hose or directed sprinkler, than the force can act like an abrasive material and cause the AntCant to essentially rub off. But, simple falling rain should have no such effect. We also recommend to use
the tape provided and apply AntCant to that surface as we know that AntCant adheres to the tape and that ants can’t climb on the AntCant treated tape when it is at a greater than 30 degree angle or upside down. Hope this is helpfull.

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