# Ants around the beehive?



## Chickieeeee (Mar 26, 2006)

How do you deter the ants from getting into your hives? Upon someone's suggestion (not from here!) we recently put a pan (one made by my dh) under our hive, and poured vegetable oil in the pan. I think the bees must have though that the oil was water because there was about 100 floating in the oil when I checked it yesterday. Okay, live and learn. That definately didn't work for the bees. Although it definately keps the ants out. But now there are so many bees, they can probably walk over the bee bodies right into the front door!

Does anyone have any suggestions? But, I don't want to put out poison. I don't want that getting into my honey!

I am hoping that the mass murder commited by me won't make them terrible upset because we are supposed to open the hive later today for our 4-H group of kids. Wish me luck!


Thanks!
:help:


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

put your hive on a stand, and put the legs of the stand in coffey cans filled with water and some oil ontopyou can also put oil on the legs of the stand above the water mark but need to keep it fresh,


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Sprinkle cinnamon around the hive, on the inter cover and on the bottom board if it isn't a screened one. Borax also works but I don't really like to use it. You have to renew either one every week, or sooner if it rains.

 Al


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## Sunmo (Dec 29, 2004)

Al,

I bought a box of borax last fall. Heard the boric acid will kill the ants. Haven't used it yet because I didn't necessarily want to kill them, just keep them out of my hive. Can the borax get in the honey/hive? I've got a screened bottom board and powdered sugar that I'm using for mite containment. One almost wants the ants to clean up the mites and powdered sugar that falls through. If you put the legs in cans filled with water, won't the bees drink out of the cans and get dirarrhea?


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