Cornell hackathon winner aims at driver ants with pheromone mist

Cornell students won the $3,000 grand prize at the university’s 2026 Digital Agriculture Hackathon with a concept aimed at one of East Africa’s most destructive apiary threats: driver ants. The team’s idea is a pheromone-based misting system designed to misdirect ants away from beehives and other targets, rather than kill them, after members drew on experiences with the Jane Goodall Institute and wildlife sanctuaries where more hazardous deterrents, including gasoline, have reportedly been used. Cornell said the team hopes to start with larger-scale beekeepers, then expand the approach to smaller subsistence farmers and, eventually, to sanctuaries. (news.cornell.edu)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the story is less about a market-ready product today and more about where animal health innovation is heading. The hackathon framed the project within a One Health context, linking pollinator protection, livestock production, wildlife welfare, and environmental safety. That’s notable because ants are already cited as a contributor to colony losses in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and current control methods can involve toxic or improvised barriers that create their own risks for animals, people, and ecosystems. A non-lethal, species-informed deterrent would fit growing interest in prevention tools that reduce collateral harm while supporting food systems and biodiversity. (news.cornell.edu)

What to watch: The next question is whether the team moves from hackathon prototype to field validation, including proof that the pheromone system can reliably redirect driver ants under real apiary and sanctuary conditions. (news.cornell.edu)