Sue sent this post to the Yahoo Group and David answered it so well that we thought it should be shared with everyone.
Sue Said:
Ants.
Big time.
I did the cinnamon thing and have all my fingers and toes crossed that my bees don't freak out about the little black buggers and fly away before I get them in my hive on Sunday.
I'm having an anxiety attack, but I promised I wouldn't open that box....
I trapped a possum a couple of days ago and turned it loose in the wilds of Elysian Park, and now I feel a little guilty because possums and skunks eat ants. But they tear up my garden in the process, and the thing possums do to chickens is unspeakably gross, so i guess it's a trade-off.
Sue
David replied:
Hello Sue,
I was at Glendale library reading some bee books that suggested besides poisons, putting hive on blocks/legs & the blocks/legs w/ oil or water pans under, to moat the hive. Also a sticky product called tanglefoot is said to keep ants at bay for a while. I tried cinnamon & ants marched through it, orange oil didn't seem to work also. That recent cutout w/ queen mighta departed for other reasons but I will try a water or vege oil moat next time to keep pesky ants away.
Kirk's suggestion of not including the honey comb in the cutout was taken to heart as my first ever cutout was attracting oodles of ants. Good luck on your hive, I know it will be a success as BeeKeeper Kirk is guiding you :). Can't wait to hear the group minds innovative ant deterrent methods.
Mentioning unspeakably gross, dachshunds do unspeakably feral things to opossums, even the mini dachshunds. My roto tillers au natural, aka possum/ skunks going to town as well in the garden so had to fence some beds.
Cheers, David
Nice one David! Dennis also suggested Diatomaceous Earth as an ant deterrent in a subsequent post, which could be a great solution as well.
