# Ants, Ants, Ants



## summersetretrievers (Mar 4, 2006)

We have a lot of ants going into the hives. Any suggestions to control them?
I tried the tupperware containers with the oil in them last year setting the hive legs in them. However I was worried my wooden legs on the hive stand would rot as the containers filled with water with the rain. Thanks.
Cindy


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## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

Best control is a strong hive. I've never seen them hurt a hive that wasn't already a goner.


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## summersetretrievers (Mar 4, 2006)

Yes, the hive they were in actually was a dead out but am trying to clean it up to use again and put in new bee's.
Cindy


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## Sandhya (Apr 26, 2007)

summersetretrievers said:


> Yes, the hive they were in actually was a dead out but am trying to clean it up to use again and put in new bee's.
> Cindy


amazing this must alll be happening now because of spring...
this AM I went out to find my bee' throwing hissy fits with bunches of them flying all around the proberty...
all jacked up.
went to the hive and saw the ants has found the bottle feeder...and were starting to march in.
I got spray water, and a spray bottle of murphys oil soap and then castile peperment soap, started takeing all those little burgers on...
tonight the hive looks like it is much calmer and I have fresh ant stakes all around. 
My hive useto set on a pole with an oil trogh...but since it is on hillside, it leans onto the ground somewhat. and weeds of course grow up on to it.


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## IndianaHoney (Jun 5, 2006)

I mixed boric acid with grape jelly and dropped it on the ground, one week later the ants were gone. The jelly keeps them busy and away from the hives for a while. By the time the jelly is gone the boric acid has taken its toll and the ant mound is dead. I then put ant stakes out to keep any future traspassers away.

I think others have used something similar to the boric acid and jelly. You can get boric acid at most pharmacies.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>I mixed boric acid with grape jelly and dropped it on the ground, one week later the ants were gone.

I do that but with borax because it's cheaper and easier to find. The same end result.


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## summersetretrievers (Mar 4, 2006)

So you use borax like you find at the grocery store?
Cindy


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## Ann (Feb 18, 2006)

We sprinkle cinnamon around the hives and have no ant problem at all. It does have to be renewed every time it rains, but as I've posted before, we buy it at an off-price outlet for $.89 bottle.


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## summersetretrievers (Mar 4, 2006)

Around our property we have these huge ant mounds not quite sure what they are. The mounds are several feet high and around. They seem to spread out from the central nest. They are also at the neighbors next door but not in the field on the other side. I think they might be harvester ants but not sure they are black on both ends with a reddish torso. I am in Michigan so we don't have fire ants 
Cindy


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## BeeAware (Mar 24, 2007)

Tried the cinnamon with zero results. It only works on certain types of ants. I use the containers with veggie oil inside. I nail some cover on the pallet top so that rain does not get into the containers. Works better than anything else I've tried.


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## BeeAware (Mar 24, 2007)

I drench mounds with Lorsban mixed in small amounts with water.


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## jrandydavis (Jun 29, 2006)

Last year we had tremendous ants- I mean everywhere and tons more than I've ever seen. I did nearly everything that has been suggested here with little to no luck. Finally I got a tube of marine bearing packing grease from PepBoys. Spread about a half inch band around each leg with a butter knife, up high away from the dirt. So far they will not cross ;-)
RD


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## Limey (Feb 10, 2007)

jrandydavis said:


> Last year we had tremendous ants- I mean everywhere and tons more than I've ever seen. I did nearly everything that has been suggested here with little to no luck. Finally I got a tube of marine bearing packing grease from PepBoys. Spread about a half inch band around each leg with a butter knife, up high away from the dirt. So far they will not cross ;-)
> RD


I did this 3 weeks ago.. I went from lots of ants to no ants. Now, if I could just get the bees to stop walking in it and leaving foot prints all the way up the hive leg, I'd be a happy guy!


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## Ken&Andria (May 2, 2007)

Hi. My wife and I just started our first hive ever the begining of April. We're really not too sure about what we are doing, but we joined the local bee club, are taking classes, etc. We haven't scewed up anything too badly yet, our single hive is buzzing like a disco club on friday night! I plan on adding the second brood box this weekend.

We read about the cinnamon deal to control ants, and decided to give it a try. We spread cinnamon all around the hive, and the bees promptly came out and collected all the cinnamon. It took them a little over an hour to pick it all up! So maybe we're on to something-cinnamon flavored honey!?

Anyway, they are small ants, and there are really not that many of them, I'm guessing that the stronger the hive gets, the less of a problem the ants will be. Is that a safe assumption?

Thanks-

Ken H.


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## Troy (Feb 9, 2006)

I have had problems with 3 different kinds of ants here in Florida.

i guess I am in the insect capital of the world and I'll just have to get used to it.

The red imported fire ant usually stays on the ground and has not bee too much a problem. 

The carpenter ants like to get into the warm cover space above a bee hive and once there will raid into the hive from time to time annoying the bees and making them quite testy, but once I went to migratory covers with no hiding spaces they are no longer much of an issue either. They are a problem in my hive top feeders, but I'm checking those every week to fill them and so if the ants get in there I just toss them all out before I refill. they seem to take a hint and move on after they've been evicted two or three times.

The ant that keeps giving me a hard time is the smaller black fire ant. It is also called the native fire ant. They seem to prefer to nest in any cavities in the wood hive bodies. I made some of my initial migratory covers out of plywood and the ants moved in those voids between the layers that seem to always show up. The bees are VERY aggravated by these ants, so they must be making forays into the hive and making them mad by taking their brood. I say brood, because I've never seen the bees get that mad by taking their honey, only when taking their brood do they get REALLY REALLY mad.

I have found the axle grease the best at discouraging the ants so far. I have read about a product called tanglefoot, but I can't find it anywhere locally.

Does anyone know where to get tanglefoot?


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## memcnult (Apr 30, 2007)

*TangleFoot*

Hi there,

I'm new here, and new to beekeeping, but based on the advice of a local beekeeper, I used tanglefoot. I was able to find it at the local Ace Hardware store, and also our local OSH Hardware store carries it.

It's basically a glue that the ants can't cross, used the same way you all have described using the grease. It works great, BUT, the bees also can get stuck in it. So far I've had about 10 bees die in it in total (it's been about a week since I put on the tanglefoot). Not too bad, I guess, but I think I'll switch to one of the greases you all have mentioned here once this round of tanglefoot wears off.


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

Where do I find borax?


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## Bee (Jan 17, 2007)

You can find it in your local supermarket
Or hardware store in the cleaning products usually next to Ajax or some other brand in one of these cans with the peel off top that exposes holes to shake it out.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Where do I find borax?

With the laundry detergent.


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

LOL, I was going to type like "Borax the laundry detergent?" and thought I'm probably wrong and someone will laugh like hell at me....


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## summersetretrievers (Mar 4, 2006)

There were a lot of ants going in and out of the hives yesterday especially the one I was trying to salvage from a dead out. I spread cinnamon all around the hives then I went out and purchased DE. I spread the DE on the two closest ant mounds. This morning there were no ants at the hives but there were ants on the mounds walking through the DE. Hopefully over several days the ant numbers will decrease and if it works I'm buying industrial size bags and putting DE around all the mounds. 
Cindy


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## Walliebee (Nov 17, 2006)

No one has mentioned a water barrier. This time of year you can find the kid/dog pools everywhere for cheap $$. Add a few bricks, and set your hives. If you have a couple of hives, it's the best solution. Just make sure a heavy rain won't flood the bottom hive body.


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

Michael, How much Borax per tablespoon of Jelly? I suppose I could just experiment, but it would be nice to know...

Maybe a half of a cup of jelly, how much borax?


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## Focus on Bees (Mar 6, 2006)

I've used a 1:1 ratio of borax and jelly. Works fantastic !!!


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

1:1 is what I do. Just by eye.


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## summersetretrievers (Mar 4, 2006)

Actually just went and bought borax and jelly. I will be attacking them on all fronts. It is getting overwhelming the number of large mounds on our property. 
Cindy


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## Andrew Burnard (Jun 7, 2006)

I'm putting a mix of Jelly and Borax out but maybe it could attract the bees, so I am trying to solve my and problem using this mix but putting in a small jar with a hole in the lid.

thanks


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

Thanks guys, 1 to 1 will be what I do....starting this weekend.


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## FordGuy (Jul 10, 2005)

Ross said:


> Best control is a strong hive. I've never seen them hurt a hive that wasn't already a goner.


recently lost a NUCs to ants. last year I lost weak hives - they just absconded when ants over ran them.


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## kensfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

I worked one hive at neighbor beek's apairy.. the wooden bottom board(old) was also an ant's nest. 

I guess a lot has to do the type of ants.. and the strength of the hive.


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## MarkAshurst (Jun 15, 2007)

I am having good initial success with petroleum jelly on the legs of my hive. I put a band around each leg and it seems to be stopping %99 in there track. The other %1 seem to be running into it by mistake and ether struggling across, getting more and more stuck or quickly turning around and out. Ether way they end up sort of dragging there feet for a while and I doubt they will be crossing again. I'm not sure how long it will last out in the sun but I feel better about it than grease both from an environmental standpoint and a laundry standpoint.


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## MarkAshurst (Jun 15, 2007)

I take it back. A few hours latter and it was barley even slowing them down. It may be that as it got cooler the ants could walk on it, or maybe they just figured it out. Either way I had to do something or my poor little girls were going to get eaten out of house and home. So I cut some OJ containers in half and put them under the legs of the hive and filled them with water. I don’t think this is a very good long term fix as it will rot the legs of in short order, but I should buy me some time to get a better solution.


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## mistergil (May 24, 2007)

My TTBH's are about two feet off the ground on 4 -2X4's sunk a foot in the ground and cemented in place. I use tanglefoot spread about an inch wide all the way around a short ways above the ground. It comes in a container used in a caulking gun, a tube container similar to a tub and tile caulk and a spray can. I got it at an ACE hardware store and it can also be obtained online. $4 or $5 but a little goes a long way and it is waterproof after applied. Every now and then I find a bee hung up in it (rarely) but it stops the ants cold. As we also do a chemical free garden, it is used smeared on yellow blocks of plastic scrap 3X4" or so, stapled on short sticks of wood and then stuck in the ground for flea beetles and grasshoppers. Works great and after they get filled up with stuck bugs I take a little gasoline in a container and brush the old off and reapply. These things work so well that the bugs are jumping on as I'm making them, they are attracted to the yellow.


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## Brent Bean (Jun 30, 2005)

I have tired various methods to control ants without much success, ants are very tough creatures and can seem to adapt to anything. This year I bought some cheap ant traps and threw one under every hive and so far I haven’t had much trouble. Its seems to be producing good results with little effort and not much cost.


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## FordGuy (Jul 10, 2005)

Borax is Na2B4O7-10H2O, Hydrated sodium borate 

Boric acid is H3BO3 

someone check me on this


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## FordGuy (Jul 10, 2005)

http://shalompest.homestead.com/BORATES.pdf


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## Kevin M (Aug 11, 2006)

My hives are on 4 legged tables, with 4x4 post for legs,works well for one with just a few hives...Each leg sits in a 1 gal. plastic spackle bucket with water and a little oil, so i don't start a mosquitoe farm. It has been very effective in stopping the ants, i do get a few drowned bees daily...If i didn't have moats, i'd do the jelly/borax thing, still might, as the ants have been getting into my figs,mulberries and raspberries...not to mention my house...!!


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## Troy (Feb 9, 2006)

I suppose it depends on how much rain you get, but here in FL, the rain will fill the moats with water and overflow the oil in less than a week.

I also saw too many bees drown in the moats, so I changed my plan.

I made hive stands that have 4 6" Galvanized Bolts for feet. The bolts can be screwed in or out to fine tune the stand for level and I just coat these bolts with tanglefoot. I set a paver stone down on the ground so the bolt doesn't sink it too much ($0.57 per stone at Lowes) It seems to work well. The hive stands are perfectly level and the ants can't seem to figure it out.

The only problem I've had in where the hive stand is on dirt, then in a hard rain the raindrops splatter the dirt up onto the tanglefoot and it fills in solid with dirt and then the ants can get over it. So for now I just wash it off and reapply every month or so.

Now if I could just find some way to keep out the darn SHB. They are the worst pest ever.


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## Kevin M (Aug 11, 2006)

that happens to me once in awhile Troy, moats overflow, but not very often, my old man live in south Fla., i seen how those rains can come down...!! I'm going to give that tanglefoot a try,it also sounds good for detering ants on my figs, mulberries and such...


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