Small black ants don't hurt the hive , they might make a mess of poly hives buy tunneling.
The big ant hill ants that live in the forest can over run a hive in the early spring before they have had a chance to grow.
They take honey and even the eggs and larvae, they do this to start their season also ,
Later in the season they usually leave the hives alone. Some bee keepers feed ant hills sugar in the spring build up so they will leave the hive alone.
I don't have this problem because I have black bears that eat the ant hills :roll:
mvh edward :-P