Tom wonders about ants he sees on his varroa floor and whether their
brethren might overwhelm his hive.
 
I suspect, Tom, you have the type of varroa floor that the bees cannot get
to, and that is why you are seeing ants there.  (Question might the ants be
carrying off mites and therefore defeating the purpose of the varroa floor?)
In your climate I sincerely doubt whether ants could overwhelm a normal
hive.  Every year I seem to have a couple or a few hives that will support
black ant colonies numbering a couple of hundred huge black ants.  They are
invariably between the outer and inner covers until perhaps the middle of
June, when the bee colony becomes so strong they start to occupy this space.
Then the ants are driven off.
 
If you and I were in the tropics, or even the equivalent of southern France,
it would be a different story and we would have to worry about ants a lot
more.
 
Lloyd
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Owner, Ross Rounds   the finest in comb honey production.