>Not all ants are harmful to bees.  Since they are close relatives to
>bees, we should appreciate them and conserve them where possible.
>
>Observe whether they are predator ants or not.  Just because they go
>in and out of hives does not necessarily mean they are harmful.
>
>Regards
>
>Allen
 
All Bee List,
   I agree with Allen, all my comments were in regard to FIRE ANTS. In Texas
they are a small red ant and once you've experienced a fire ant mound you'll
remember exactly what they are!  The Logic/Award DOES NOT harm other native
ants as far as I can tell.  For example, I continue to have what we call a
"sugar ant" in my yard (year 'round).  It is a small native black ant that
seems to do no harm to the bee hives.
   Standing in/on a fire ant mount reminds me of a joke: The customer of a
blacksmith wondered into his shop one day and was pokin' around looking at
stuff and handling everything!  When the nosey fellow pickup a hot houseshoe
and immediately tossed it back down, the blacksmith said, "Ah, burned ya
didn't it?"  And the coustomer said, "No it doesn't take me long to look at
a horseshoe."  Well if you've experienced fire ants, it won't take you long
to see enough!  They do have one redeming value, they can really do a job on
wax moth invested frames (the wax moths, larve, etc don't stand a chance).