What I've been told is that strong hives aren't bothered by ants.
I was bothered by them being in the inner conver, though, so I used cinnamon, and either that worked, or the bees got strong enough to run them off. If you live in an area with fire ants, though, things might be a bit different...
Remember that bees and ants are related, so what kills ants kills bees. So no spraying!