Incredibly effective ant proof beehive stand

[soarwitheagles]

Hi everyone!

We lost our first hive to ants...millions of them!  We have several different varieties, but the large black ants would war against our first beehive every night.

We tried all the old wives tales such as legs in buckets with oil/water, cinnamon, etc. but that just made matters even worse [hundreds of drowned bees].

Finally, found a plan from Charlie B.  Modified and tweaked it a bit and never had even one ant ever make it up to the hive since then!

Incredibly effective and will probably last for decades if I apply new paint every 8-10 years...

More pictures soon to come.

Soar

[flyboy]

So where do the hordes get turned back? Is it the upside down walk under the disc in the post?

[little john]

That's a disk filled with grease.  Nice one ... 

Although I don't have anything like the OP's problem with ants - they ARE a bloody nuisance, and I had thought about incorporating an aluminium flan (quiche) case - or something similar - into hive legs, and smearing axle grease on the underside.  The only reason I haven't done this is because it gets very dusty around here during what passes for our summer, and I thought that the grease would be made ineffective by wind-blown dust.

But - it's very good indeed to hear that this DOES work in practice - will have to put yet another project onto my 'to do' list.

LJ

[Rurification]

Great design!    Soar - where are you from?   

[You can put your location in your profile.  It makes it a lot easier for folks to answer questions when they know where you're from.]

[soarwitheagles]

So where do the hordes get turned back? Is it the upside down walk under the disc in the post?

The hordes turn back at the inverted PVC caps that are filled with the high temp lube...

[soarwitheagles]

That's a disk filled with grease.  Nice one ... 

Although I don't have anything like the OP's problem with ants - they ARE a bloody nuisance, and I had thought about incorporating an aluminium flan (quiche) case - or something similar - into hive legs, and smearing axle grease on the underside.  The only reason I haven't done this is because it gets very dusty around here during what passes for our summer, and I thought that the grease would be made ineffective by wind-blown dust.

But - it's very good indeed to hear that this DOES work in practice - will have to put yet another project onto my 'to do' list.

LJ

Inverted PVC caps prevent most dust from settling on the grease...7 months so far, no dust to speak of...

[soarwitheagles]

Great design!    Soar - where are you from?   

[You can put your location in your profile.  It makes it a lot easier for folks to answer questions when they know where you're from.]

Hi Rurification,

We are in north central california.

[BeeMaster2]

Great plans. I really need to make a pair of stands like them for my hives when they are in town. I used a vacuum last night to suck up 3 large ant nests from 3 hives last night and that was after doing the same thing on different hives last Friday. They have been so large that I just could no longer kill all of the ants with a paint spatula any more.
Jim

[soarwitheagles]

Great plans. I really need to make a pair of stands like them for my hives when they are in town. I used a vacuum last night to suck up 3 large ant nests from 3 hives last night and that was after doing the same thing on different hives last Friday. They have been so large that I just could no longer kill all of the ants with a paint spatula any more.
Jim

Jim,

I hear ya on the ant nightmare...it was really frustrating for us, then broke our hearts after the ants killed our first and only hive.  After that, wishful thinking just wasn't an option anymore.

This plan from Charlie B. gets the job done.  No more babysitting our hives...esp. at night as that is when the most severe attacks occurred in our locale.

After 7 months, not even one ant has made it across the high temp lube line.

I suppose people could come up with hundreds of variations of this type of ant proof beehive stand.  For me, I think the key is the lube...ants stay far away from it, and it does not drip, even in our 105f+ summers.  This style has passed our test and I will stick with it for now. 

I am attaching more pics for those interested in building their own version...

Hope this helps!

Soar

[BeeMaster2]

Thanks that helps.
Jim

[KeyLargoBees]

i bought diatomaceous earth from Bulk Apothocary and keep it in a pastry bag and just dribble it out around the legs of the hive stands and the ants gobble up the scraps on the ground that fall through the SBB but none in the hives...you do have to reapply but its been workign for me ;-)

[soarwitheagles]

Thanks that helps.
Jim

Jim,

The original design called for cementing 3/4" plumbing pipe into the ground, with "T's" up top.  Very effective, and will probably last much longer than the wood versions...

Problem for me was the metal was out of our price range but we had most of the wood version material simply laying around.  So for us, the price was right on the wood version...

I am posting the metal pipe version that Charlie B designed and that a local beekeeper implemented...

Enjoy!

[soarwitheagles]

I like the design very much but the part I do not like about it is the stand is not portable...you can't take it with you or move it somewhere else....

Hope this helps!

[BeeMaster2]

More good info.
In these pictures it looks like the hives are on a 4x6 beam, maybe a 4x8 at best. Is that the case?
I have seen a lot of beekeepers use a single row of cinder blocks with 2 2x4 placed on top. That is only 8" of support on a 20" long hive.
That is too unstable for me. especially here in FL with our wind storms. Ever a thunder storm here can produce 200 mile an hour winds. A lot run up to 60 MPH. Also it would bee too easy to bump a hive off while working on them or mowing around them.
Jim

[Dmrauch]

Too unstable

Just trying to understand and definitely not disagreeing.  Is it too unstable if the 8" is centered under the hive? Also too unstable if it were 4" under front of hive and 4" under back edge of hive? 4" front and back but back a bit from edges?

Is there any configuration when 8" could be stable?

Dena

[BeeMaster2]

Too unstable

Just trying to understand and definitely not disagreeing.  Is it too unstable if the 8" is centered under the hive? Also too unstable if it were 4" under front of hive and 4" under back edge of hive? 4" front and back but back a bit from edges?

Is there any configuration when 8" could be stable?

Dena

It is too unstable only having 8" in the middle of the hive. Just take an empty hive, stack it with 4 or 5 boxes on it and see how easy it is to knock over.
I setup mine so that the front edge of the hive is on a 2x4 and the back is hanging over another 2x4 by one inch. Just enough to pick up the back of the hive with my finger tips. It makes it real stable. That makes it at least 19" of support.
 Jim

[soarwitheagles]

More good info.
In these pictures it looks like the hives are on a 4x6 beam, maybe a 4x8 at best. Is that the case?
I have seen a lot of beekeepers use a single row of cinder blocks with 2 2x4 placed on top. That is only 8" of support on a 20" long hive.
That is too unstable for me. especially here in FL with our wind storms. Ever a thunder storm here can produce 200 mile an hour winds. A lot run up to 60 MPH. Also it would bee too easy to bump a hive off while working on them or mowing around them.
Jim

Good question Jim!  And you also bring up some very important points...

Most people here are using two of the 2"x6" pressure treated redwood boards with pieces framed on the inside for greater structural support [see pics please].

The first beehive stand I built had the upper rails 17" on center.  I did not like that.  So all the remaining beehive stands I have built are all 21" on center, and they are structurally sound.

Another nice feature is that I augured 1" deep holes in the top 3'x4' rails for the pipes.  This way the top rail is secure and cannot be moved during wind storms.

Finally, depending upon locale and wind conditions, some people will anchor the hive with screws or by using the tie downs.  Here on our property, we are surrounded 360 degrees by 100 ft+ Eucalyptus trees, so we have a mighty wind break in all directions.  Thus, I do not need to do extra special anchoring of the hives.

One final idea I saw was to perhaps screw in two 2"x6"x6' on each of the lateral sides of the stand, making it much more tip proof for high wind areas.  Charlie B did this because he places beehives atop buildings on the roofs [see pics].

Just for laughs, I thought I would post a pics of my very first beehive stand.  I had drilled two holes in an old Eucalyptus stump, inserted two sections of plumbers pipe, secured them to two 2"x4"'s, then screwed in the bottom board.  Oh, I also taped two upside down funnels on the plumbers pipe and spread lots of powdered cinnamon below.  The darn ants were still able to attack the hive though...and of course the entire set up looked quite ridiculous.

Live and learn!

Hope this helps!

[OldMech]

I have hives setting on top of two 4x4's that are in turn sitting on Cinder blocks.  No worries about how sturdy they are in any way. Not a chance of "bumping" them in any direction, and the closest tornado was a little over 1/4 mile away last summer and didnt lose any of them in the 80/90 mph gusts..   I actually had hives sitting on small concrete slabs get blown off of their bases, while those sitting on the wood beams stayed in place?

[little john]

Although nowhere near as workman-like (or permanent) as the design being discussed, there's always the 'fruit-tree grease band' method which could be used to deter ants.  On one horticultural site I visited recently, a guy mentioned fixing a 'ballet skirt' cover (made from plastic and tape) just above the grease band, to keep the effects of dust and rain to a minimum.

LJ