Ants!!!

Grrrrrr . . . . Last night when I went to start my strawberry wine, I figured I would check on the others while I waited for the must to cool. I pulled out my bucket of peach, promptly started crying out of anger and dumped it down the drain. I don't think anyone was interested in trying peach and ant wine. Reminds me of the piscamel post (yup, fish mead, pretty gross sounding). I feel a little better now than I did last night (after having written a therapeutic plea for help and staying out most of the night at IHOP BSing with a friend), but I am convinced that neither ants nor cats (who were the only pests I thought I would have to worry about originally, don't ask me why) will be getting this strawberry wine.

For some reason, the ants were decidedly indifferent to the cranberry mead. Tasteless bastards.

So here's the recipe thus far and stats for the strawberry wine:

Royal Mark
3 lbs. frozen strawberries (ish, remember I'm using up leftovers here)
11.5 oz can Welch's white grape juice frozen concentrate
2 lbs. light brown sugar
2 t. citric acid
1/4 t. tannin
6 pts. water
1 t. nutrient
Red Star Cote des Blancs yeast

Thaw berries and juice. Dissolve sugar in 5 pts. water and bring to a boil. Strain syrup from berries and save. Put fruit in nylon bag in primary and crush. Pour boiling water over fruit, cover primary and set aside to cool. When cooled to 80-85 degrees, add juice, reserved syrup, 1 pt. water, tannin, acid, and nutrient. Stir well. Add activated yeast, cover and stir daily. Do not further crush bag of pulp.

Now, because of my overwhelming need to get out of the house last night after the ant attack, I stuck the pulp, sugar and water in the fridge to cool and sit (ant-free) overnight. then I brought the bucket out this morning and left it, covered in a sink with detergent laced water in it (suggestion from the post), to warm up all day. This afternoon I continued with the recipe as stated.
Temp: 72 degrees
O.G. 1.097

Must is currently being contained in a primary bucket with some of that press and seal stuff around the top (the only plastic wrap I have), and bucket is sitting in a pot of soapy water with at least 1/2" of gap between side of bucket and pot all around. Trying to do as much as I can to keep the ants out since I don't have lids to fit the buckets, and couldn't get them until Saturday.