# Ants



## Norcalkyle (Apr 23, 2015)

What are the hives sitting on? I have red and black ants which I have deemed to be a problem based on their massive number. My hives sit on 3/4" galvanized pipe stands with the legs centered in aluminum pans on top of bricks. I pour oil in to the top of the aluminum pan and invert another aluminum pan about 2" over the top of the oil filled pan to keep bees out of the oil. As long as you don't let the grass grow and bridge the oil trays, no more ants.


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## knucklehead (Jan 19, 2016)

My hive is sitting on blocks. Cinnamon and DE togather seem to be doing the trick so far.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Feeding is the leading cause of ant problems...

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfallacies.htm#feedingcanthurt


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## knucklehead (Jan 19, 2016)

Should I not be feeding them this time of year in N. GA? My local bee club said they needed to be fed 1:1 syrup (it was a 3 frame nuc installed about 10 days ago).

Based on what I read from your link there, I may have over fed then. Local bee club said feed them 1:1 until they stopped taking it. But last I looked in my hive (7 days after Queen had been released), I saw no evidence of eggs, and every empty cell had what looked like syrup/nectar in it. I just had my wife pull the feeder. We have what I thought to be plenty of blooming trees and flowers in the yard.


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## Norcalkyle (Apr 23, 2015)

I have a top feeder and end up putting in 1-2 gallons at a time in each hive because there are times when I can't get to them for 1-2 weeks in a row. When I fed last year, the ants were bad, however they were still present in decent numbers even when the feeders were off. I noticed lots of ants carrying pieces of wax out of the hives, which made me decide that they need to be in oil trays all year.

One downside of oil trays is you will drown bees in the oil unless you put some sort of "umbrella" over the trays. I found individual chicken pot pie tins to be a great option. They come with a clear plastic lid, which I cut to fit around the stand legs and suspend about 2" over the oil tin. Keeps the rain and bees out of the oil.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Do they have capped stores? Is there nectar available? if so, then no, I would not be feeding them.


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## knucklehead (Jan 19, 2016)

Thanks! I just had my wife pull the feeder a few minutes ago. I thought there was enough blooming and plus what was already in their frames to not need to feed them!


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## BeverlyPaul (Apr 11, 2016)

You can call professionals to deal with this problem.


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