Urban beekeeping in Johannesburg comes with unique challenges—namely keeping your neighbours happy and the ants out of your hives! Tonight at the Bee Sanctuary, we performed some “midnight maintenance” to strengthen a weak rescue and upgrade our hive security.

Ants are a major cause of absconding in the Highveld. To combat this, we built a sturdy, “moated” stand using simple materials:

• The Build: We used five cinder blocks. Two act as the base, topped with two oven pans filled with vegetable oil. We then placed half-blocks inside the pans and a final full block on top to create a flat, level surface.
• The Result: This creates an oil barrier that ants cannot cross, keeping the colony safe and secure.
• Why Nighttime? Working in an urban area means we do inspections after dark. This prevents bees from flying around the neighbourhood and becoming a nuisance to people walking nearby.

Boosting a Weak Colony

We have a “hospital” nuc made from two separate chimney removals. One of those swarms likely had a laying worker (indicated by multiple eggs per cell), so we combined them to save the population.

• The Donor Hive: We opened one of our strongest production hives (which we haven’t inspected in nearly four months—oops!). Despite the neglect, they are thriving with “gorgeous” brood patterns and supers already filling with honey.
• The Transfer: We took a healthy frame of capped brood from the strong hive and moved it into the weak nuc.
• The Goal: Once those young bees hatch, they will instantly double the workforce of the weak colony, giving the queen the “boost” she needs to start laying aggressively for the spring flow.

Spring Outlook

The supers are already smelling like honey, which is a fantastic sign that the spring buildup has begun. By balancing our apiary now—taking a little from the strong to help the weak—we ensure all our colonies are “lekker strong” for the upcoming harvest.

Want to build your own ant-proof stand?

I’ll be posting a detailed list of materials and a step-by-step guide soon. Make sure to Subscribe to the Bee Sanctuary and hit the like button! Every sub brings us closer to our 3 to 300 hive goal.

Quick Question: What’s your preferred “moat” liquid for ant-proofing? Vegetable oil, water, or something else? Let’s talk shop in the comments!

How should we proceed? Would you like an update on the “Boosted” nuc in two weeks, or are you ready for the next technical garden removal?