Author Topic: will hives abscond because of ants  (Read 997 times)

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Offline rober

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will hives abscond because of ants
« on: May 27, 2017, 08:04:09 am »
it had not been an issue before but at my quarantine yard I had 2 nucs abscond. both had quite a few of those large black (carpenter? ) ants in them. the other hives aren't bothered so i'm not sure whether the ants were the problem or just took advantage after the nucs left.

Offline Nugget Shooter

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Re: will hives abscond because of ants
« Reply #1 on: May 27, 2017, 09:21:21 am »
Ants are a huge problem in the desert and last year we had a hive invaded when a branch loaded with mesquite beans drooped onto it allowing them to start an invasion, hundreds of them and the bees were very agitated until I fixed the problem so perhaps yes to your question. I was told by locals here that they will overrun and drive a hive out in as little as 2 days time so we built stands to avoid the issue. We have both large black harvester ants and stinging argentine ants and both species are very aggressive and will quickly tear up anything edible that falls to the ground under the hives.   

We use sand in the leg cans soaked with mineral oil with holes drilled just above the sand to drain water also there in that sticky insect block painted on upper legs as a backup. We have no issues with this setup as long as I tend to the trees. Each rack will hold 3 hives and were built with 3 inch fence rails for chain link....



Cheers, Bill