Hi all Often when removing the outer cover on a hive, I disturb large black ants ( usually 50-100 so it’s not their nest) on the inner cover. They scurry around each carrying an egg trying to find someplace to hide out of the light. They don’t seem to be doing anything to the hive or bees, likely it’s a warm place to hatch the eggs. They do, however, disturb the hive if some drop into the hive or escape down the front of the hive where they approach the hive entrance, when the inner cover is removed. I checked the archives and found several mentions of the same problem along with some suggested chemical solutions. I don't want to use pesticides near my bees, but would like to understand why ants would leave their nest with eggs to end up on top of a beehive. Any ant experts out there? Bob Darrell Caledon Ontario Canada 44N80W *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm