Advice Needed With Regard To Ants

[Raceyboy]

Opened the hive up today and i noticed in the roof area there are alot of ants, I don't know if this is the right plan of action but i've put an ant bait station in the roof area ...... Is this the right thing to do

 

[Tom Bick]

Some people get ants others earwigs and I get wood lice although not at this time of year.

Not a great deal you can do about it other than something that may stop them climbing your hive stand?

I would remove the bait out of the hive it may be full of nastys

 

[alanf]

A bait station initially encourages them to visit. May be better on the floor and the poison bait can be between slates or tiles to protect from rain or other insects as mentioned in other threads.

Not a great deal you can do about it other than something that may stop them climbing your hive stand?

Vaseline (or rather poundshop petroleum jelly) in a band around legs or blocks discourages them although may not stop them completely.

 

[Raceyboy]

We are talking of alot of ants, they even have eggs in the roof space of the hive. I've already greased the legs of the hive stand but they somehow still manage to get through it.....

 

[VEG]

Leave the feed holes open and no probs.

 

[Chris Luck]

I have hives like that - heaving on top of the CB, entire colonies, but as I rarely open my hives it doesn't matter, the ants can't get in past the propolis seal - strangely that's one of the reasons the bees do it.

I would never use any chemical treatment anywhere near my bees.

Chris

 

[Raceyboy]

Bit of a mixed reaction, do i or don't i remove the ant bait station?

 

[BeeJayBee]

Bit of a mixed reaction, do i or don't i remove the ant bait station?

Yes, from inside the hive. You don't want to risk it, not only for your bees but for any honey you might want to collect.

We have ant bait near a hive, it's between two pieces of slate kept apart with a bit of kebab skewer. The whole thing is beneath a broken flower pot, so we can see it easily and there's no way the bees can get at the poison.

 

[Raceyboy]

I think i'm gonna put it underneath the hive, sheltered with a saucer.....

 

[milkermel]

personally i would say save your money and dont get any more, most of the ant treatments on the open market are not really that affective. you need someone who can get the professional stuff and come and treat it. its not cheap but it does the job. The commercial stuff works by the ants taking it back to the colony and kills the young rather than killing the adults This treatment takes about 14 days to work and is the only thing my husband trusts to use as it is 100% effective. a treatment may cost you about £50. but so long as they use this stuff it does the business

 

[Black Comb]

I had the same a few weeks ago.
At the advice on this forum I

1. Sprinkled ant powder on a slate and put another slate on top, leaving a small gap between the slates, big enough for ants but not bees.

2. Sprinkled cinammon pwoder on crown board,inside the roof and down the sides of hive.

Worked a mtreat. No more ants.

 

[Chris Luck]

Dust the top of the CB with ground cinnamon BUT remember not to knock it of into the hive when giving it a thwack to remove bees because the bees aren't too keen either AND when the weather is set to be dry you could leave the lid removed depending on your set up....

....but like I said, I don't bother, there are serious issues that deserve attention, but not ants.

Chris

 

[REDWOOD]

I had the same a few weeks ago.
At the advice on this forum I

1. Sprinkled ant powder on a slate and put another slate on top, leaving a small gap between the slates, big enough for ants but not bees.

2. Sprinkled cinammon pwoder on crown board,inside the roof and down the sides of hive.

Worked a mtreat. No more ants.

Glad it worked

 

[psafloyd]

Leave the feed holes open and no probs.

Well, I have ants in a number of my hives and they are not being frightened off by the bees.

 

[Polyanwood]

Live and let live. They aren't doing any harm and at least they don't smell, unlike woodlice, which stink.

 

[psafloyd]

Live and let live. They aren't doing any harm and at least they don't smell, unlike woodlice, which stink.

They don't do any harm? If that's the case, fair enough. But do woodlice stink? Wouldn't it be the damp which they prefer?

 

[Polyanwood]

The smell of woodlice is disgusting. They only seem to be there in the Winter even if the roof is watertight. I don't think they do any harm either, and neither do earwigs.

Now some big spiders that make a web in the lid and trap the bees - they have to be evicted.

 

[Headnavigator]

This may be a bit left field, but somewhere I've got the idea that Formic acid is a varroacide, if so surely the presence of ants in the hive might even be beneficial? I have one roof full of ants and it doesn't seem to offend the bees at all, as far as I can see the ants stay above the crownboard and the bees below, happy neighbours.

 

[Polyanwood]

True formic acid kills varroa. It also kills fleas and ticks. Crows and other birds deliberately pick up ant and roughly push them into their feathers so that they will sting giving off formic acid, which will help rid the bird of fleas and ticks.

 

[psafloyd]

But the ants are only there to rob the honey, aren't they? So they only might cause a problem if they built a nest?