# Need help with ant problem



## sammyjay (May 2, 2011)

Hi, I have noticed my hives are being bothered by ants and I was wondering what I should do?


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## ken rice (Apr 28, 2010)

Ground cinnamon seems to work. Sprinkle around hive on ground. Will need to reapply after rain.


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## Sherillynn (Apr 17, 2011)

Ground cinnamon? I am going to have to try that. I have two newer hives that seem to have ants near them. None of the rest do so I thought maybe they were just weaker or I was near an anthill.


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## Ray4852 (May 27, 2011)

A new product was released this month. its called the mitezapper

http://www.mitezapper.com/


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## ccar2000 (Aug 9, 2009)

I use diatomaceous earth. I mound it around the hive stand supports.


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## jrbbees (Apr 4, 2010)

A new product was released this month. its called the mitezapper


Has nothing to do with ants. $70 plus for one hive? $35. for each additional hive?
? Little bit of marketing here?


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## Beetrucker74 (Oct 10, 2010)

We use ant pioson granuals double dose right up to the hive, just not 10 inches out from entrance. That helps but my yards are in ther woods and the ants like to live on the inner cover. Ants are my nummber one problem right now.


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## MDS (Jan 9, 2011)

Sherillynn said:


> Ground cinnamon? I am going to have to try that. I have two newer hives that seem to have ants near them. None of the rest do so I thought maybe they were just weaker or I was near an anthill.


I seem to only have the ant problem mainly with new, weaker hives. I've tried using different styles of feeders with no luck. So far I just wait till they have some capped honey stored, or move in a frame of honey if I have it, and then stop feeding. Of course another benefit of feeding is help with drawing comb so I sometimes wait for a nector flow, available foragers and then remove the feeder.

On my larger hives hardly ever have an ant problem. I've been checking the gardening forums for help with ants and I'll try the cinnamon. 

I've always wondered if the ants can spread illness although I've never seen an issue with it.

It should be a safe assumption that anything you put out for the ant problem will be tracked into the hive. So I'm not going near anything harmful for bees just to get rid of ants.


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## sammyjay (May 2, 2011)

MDS said:


> or move in a frame of honey if I have it, and then stop feeding.


My problems with ants are not feeder related(I'm not feeding them right now) but my hives are new and not very strong and the weaker hive seems to be targeted more then the stronger hive. I think I might try cinnamon to control the ant problem.


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## AltamontBee (Mar 26, 2008)

I've had luck with the cinnamon as far as preventing ants in the colony. Also, someone recommended lifting the outer cover so it rests on one edge of the inner cover, tilting it and giving more venilation. It worked for me for removing ants from the inside of the outer cover.

Jennifer


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## summer1052 (Oct 21, 2007)

What you should do is use the search feature on this forum and read the tons of old posts that probably answer your question.  The powdered cinnamon seems to work very well for many people for keeping out "sugar" ants. Also, check and see if there are any ant hills right under your hives. You may need to take down a hill with boiling water, or poison, or some such if it becomes a real ongoing problem. 

GL! 
Summer


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## heatherbee (May 10, 2011)

My TBH had little black ants (and clearish-white eggs?)all over it for a couple of weeks, although I never saw any inside the hive. I was getting worried and was wondering what to do. The bees seemed to have defended their hive well, because when I checked on them yesterday, there were only 2-3 ants crawling around and no sign of the white "eggs". In my research, I read a lot of people reccommend DE and/or cinnamon. DE was said that it may dehydrate the bees if they happen to come in contact with it. 
Good Luck!


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## ccar2000 (Aug 9, 2009)

DE will most definitely dehydrate the bees if they come in contact. DE is like zillions of tiny razorblades that cut crawling insects open. That is why it works so well on ants, roaches, caterpillars, etc... Hopefully you do not typically have crawling bees at your hive stand.


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## summer1052 (Oct 21, 2007)

Please note that cinnamon, and DE don't work on Fire ants. I'm not sure anything short of Napalm works on Fire ants  But DE does work well on many other pests.

I know Borax will slow down roaches. Have any of you tried it for sugar ants? Just curious . . .

summer


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## ccar2000 (Aug 9, 2009)

Luckily I have not had to deal with fire ants. They sound like a tough battle!
Never tried Borax.


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## LtlWilli (Mar 11, 2008)

I have both fire ants and wood ants , and am about ready to try anything...Good thread.
LtlWilli


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## MDS (Jan 9, 2011)

Finally gave in. My ants problems come when feeding young hives. Took the feeder off, moved frame of honey in from another hive till they can build up and fight the ants off. That was an entrance feeder. Still get problems with top feeder when colony is strong because bees don't have access to get to top of feeder where the ants come in. Plan on trying to seal off the outside cover area better next time I use a top feeder, maybe using a migratory cover rather than telescoping when feeding.


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## lewjayjr (Mar 13, 2011)

I have a really bad ant problem with one hive with ants streaming up the sides and when I lifted the cover, they were all over the inside. I've tried to clean out any dead bees, etc and have been washing the outside of the hive with a hose to wash the ants away. Even moved the hive to a new location. I think they may be actually in the wood itself now. Tried to spray around the hive but only killed some of the bees. Think I may try to build some legs and put them in cans of oil or something to see if that helps. Cinnamon doesn't seem to do anything for the problem.


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## Mbeck (Apr 27, 2011)

I drench the ground with this, under and around hive out to 6 feet.
Works even on fire ants.
Ohhh yeah! I'm new at this so check out anything I say! Hehe

http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=30e079cd-7b6a-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5


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## lighto (Jul 27, 2010)

Mix two tablespoons Borax Soap with one cup grape jelly . Needs to be made with sugar . Not corn syrup ! If not taken.. One cup bacon grease with two tablespoons Borax . Protein or sugar . one should work! Look up archives bee-source-ants. ("Thank's to Michael Bush") For the Info !!! http://www.beesource.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-252238.html http://www.buzzle.com/articles/borax-to-kill-ants.html


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## chrisd4421 (Oct 11, 2010)

I have had good success by using spearmint leaves....my ants are on the inner cover.....I put fresh leaves (my wife has a mint garden) on everytime I go in.....the one time I didn't, ants were back.

/Chris in NJ


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## sammyjay (May 2, 2011)

I tried ground cinnamon and it just soaked into the oil I had poured around there before and I also tried using a hive stand with the legs put in containers of oil and they just used grass as there bridge. I have tried to rip all the grass away and there still seems to be a few here and there around the hives. Also, thanks for all your replies.


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