smear a product called Tanglefoot or petrolium jelly completly around the hive stand to make a barrier. worked in Davie.

Thanks for the suggestion.

My loquat trees get tortured by aphids from time to time, which are physically carried up to the tree canopy, one by one, by ants. So I've found if I put a few strips of double sided tape circumferentially around near the base of the tree/trunk, it dramatically slows down, or even completely halts the ant activity. They don't want to cross the tape barrier. So a few strips of tape around the trunk typically does an adequate job. You might be able to do that around the posts that are supporting your hives. If it doesn't work, you can just remove the tape and try something else.