My bees have already decided to make a habit of freaking me out right before I’m supposed to leave town. I went out on Friday to make sure everything was in place before we left for a big camping trip… and the outside of the hive was just covered in ants. And syrup. My feeder pail was leaking, soaking the board it was sitting on, and making little sugar pools below the hive. Little pools of ant heaven. And I’m scheduled to pack and be out of the house in two hours.
I’d noticed some ants a couple days before, and after a little research online, I decided to try a natural deterrent: cinnamon. Simple, healthy, easy. Why not? I used most of a jar, sprinkling a perimeter around the hive, around the feeder, and everywhere the ants were crossing the base. I was skeptical, but maintained optimism that it would work… probably because I didn’t want to even think about dealing with a complete infestation. But cinnamon is no match for a leaky syrup feeder… so complete infestation is what I had.
The anthill was directly below my hive, so my cinnamon perimeter was pretty much a joke. And there were piles of ants swarming where the syrup was dripping onto the ground. I couldn’t tell if they were inside on the frames or not, but they were definitely in the box with the feeder pail, and all over the outside of the hive. I really didn’t have time to post on the forum and wait for help, so I just kind of winged it… I bought a few of those ant poison boxes, and put duct tape over the entrances, leaving only a tiny opening for the ants to squeeze through. I nestled them down into the mulch right where the syrup had been dripping. Then after some hesitation, I took the feeder out of the hive, brushed the ants away, and closed everything up.
After the feeder was gone, the bees immediately took notice of the mess. In less than a minute, a few dozen workers were outside circling the hive, picking off the ants and cleaning up the syrup from the outside walls.
When I got back home Sunday the ants were gone, completely, which was a huge relief. But I definitely have some defensive planning to do before I put the feeder back in.
Honey and Hops 