When I first set up a new hive, the ants immediately found their latest source of nourishment. As I was fearful that this would wipe out the small nucleus that was there, I decided to place boric acid containers around the hives.

These were made out of oleo margarine containers, to which a solution of 9 parts honey to 1 part boric acid was added. The containers were then pierced above the mixture line by several openings with an ice pick, so the ants could get in, but the bees could not.

As the hive became stronger, I noted that the workers were "taking care" of any invading ants - sticking them to the upper excluder wires with honey "glue."

I would like to think this simple maneuver allowed them to at least get a start - building up the colony, until they were of sufficient numbers to handle the problem by themselves.

In the case of a larger invader, however, I'm not sure this maneuver would be workable.

When we kept bees in the desert, the biggest threat to the hive was the desert iguana lizards. When they came out of hibernation, they were pretty hungry. They would station themselves outside of the hive landing platform, and "slurp" up the returning workers when laden with pollen or nectar. I feel this eventually weakened and led to the demise of the hive.

Hope someone can advise you further - good luck.

One thought - placing bait for cockroaches at night, then removing before daylight might be a suggestion. Bees don't fly after dark.

Bejay