At 06:08 PM 5/01/97 -0700, you wrote:
>>
>To keep ants from crawling up your hive stand legs you can place the legs
>in coffee cans of old oil.
 
I know a beekeeper that uses his own special mix to put on the legs.  It is
a greasy gelle that uses some sort of ant repellent/poison.  I will try to
tack it down.
 
I recall that he says that standing legs in a bath of oil/water is not
practical because the liquid evaporates too quickly (well it does in Western
NSW).  He smears the mix on to the legs.
The gelle does not drain off the legs (or evaporate) but it is eventually
coated with dust so the ants can walk over the top of it.
 
He also recommends leaving a dead kangaroo (or some other large animal)
close to the ant's nest. The ants become so pre-occupied with the meat that
they ignore the hives.
Regards
 
Chris Allen