The ants go marching...
The cinnamon worked for me, for a while, but it got used up quickly and I think the ants get immune to it anyway. Now I have switched to diatomaceous earth (I got it in a 1.5 lb. box at the nursery, about $8,) which I sprinkled (OK, heaped) around the bottom edge of my support box, as well as smearing some on the as-yet-unfilled-by-propolis cracks in the hive itself. That seems to be working for the moment, as long as I am diligent about re-application.
When I do my next inspection, I am going to try to nail some legs on my support box and put them in bowls of water or oil, as has been suggested by others.
I am resigned to the fact that there are a bazillion ants in my garden. I was feeling regretful about trapping that possum who was digging pits in my strawberry beds, 'cause the uneaten ants had migrated to the hive, but now the trenches are back, worse than ever. I figure the ants must taste really good, since their little bellies are full of honey (?), but I have worked so hard on my strawberries.....so I gotta get the trap out again, repair the part of it that was chewed by the possum, and reset it.
I feel a little like I'm caught up in some kind of wild Circle of Life here. Sheesh.
