Cinnamon DOES NOT WORK on ants.

[Captain776]

Like everyone else that keeps bees and feeds them, you have ants in, on, and around your hives.
I had tried Cinnamon in the house before when I saw ants. I have made a circle around the ants and they walk right thru it.
My hives are on tables so I don't have to bend over, I put Black Flag ant traps on the table tops, may have helped a little.
This morning, just to try again, I covered the table top with a dusting of cinnamon, big ants, small ants walking all thru it like it was never there.
Just went and cheddar again which is 5 hrs later, does not seem to have deterred them at all.

Just curious........can any of you say you have had success with Cinnamon?

[JackM]

go get some powdered borax

[little john]

Maybe it depends on the type of ants you have ?  Cinnamon works fine on ants here, but the sort we have are right at the bottom of the ant problem league-table.
LJ

[mtnb]

Nope. It doesn't work in my experience either. It makes them take a step back for a second but then walk right through it. They don't like grease though so when I see ants attacking my hives, I mix about 1/2 cup of olive or vegetable oil, but a couple of tblsp of cinammon in it and brush it with my BBQ brush, all around the bottom of the hive and stand. I put it on heavy by the entrance and up the sides and that seems to deter them long enough before the oil dries away a few hours later. I also stomp and sgwoosh as many as possible which seems to release an alarm pheromone and they start to flee. I. An only imagine the ants you must have there captain. I've only recently come across the borax suggestion like jack said. I'll have to try that.

[BeeMaster2]

I have serious ant problems here.
I have used cinnamon before. Some of the ants here act like there feet are one fire and run and some do not even know it is there.
I have upside down cups at the top of the posts that hold up my bee stands. One has all of the cups greased inside and the other doesn't. Both seem to help a lot.
Jim

[Captain776]

I have nice artificial grass, so I can't fill containers with oil and put the legs in them because when it rains it will make a mess and stain.
I mainly have tiny ants, probably sugar ants, they are the smallest ants I ever saw, I see just a few medium sized black ants a few big ants that seem to be black with red Thorax.

What I did before was put a 3" band of Vaseline on the legs of the table, I think that helped, I will put Vaseline again and see if it slows them down.
It's funny to watch the bigger ants go in the entrance............and how fast they run out

[herbhome]

Never found cinnamon to work on the ants here. When they get to be a problem I put boric acid traps on the inner cover and it seems to slow thaem down.

[little john]

Do be aware that Boric Acid is a non-specific insecticide, and so will kill honey bees if they're able to come into contact with it.
LJ

[herbhome]

The traps I use are designed with an entrance too small for a bee but enough for an ant. She has to crawl up a ramp after entering to get to the bait which is sugar syrup with boric acid.

[tycrnp]

I have nice artificial grass, .....

A-ha! I wondered how you had such a beautiful yard in your photo with the flip flops and racket! LOL!!!

[Captain776]

I have nice artificial grass, .....

A-ha! I wondered how you had such a beautiful yard in your photo with the flip flops and racket! LOL!!!

I worked hard here to have a beautiful lush green lawn, it is hard with the weeds and insects. I had it looking great and then ended up buying a different brand of chicken manure, must have been loaded with weed seed, after applying that one, I lost everything we established........total field of weeds again.........that is when I surrendered.
Artificial is not the panacea, OK, no cutting, watering, fertilizing, weeding.......but now I have another 280 sq meters of carpet to clean from leaves, flower petals, dead bees and any other debris that falls on it.
Tried a gas powered blower but not really the right tool. I have my maid vacuum it with shop vac

[little john]

The traps I use are designed with an entrance too small for a bee but enough for an ant. She has to crawl up a ramp after entering to get to the bait which is sugar syrup with boric acid.

Interesting.  For anyone else who's keen to try ant traps rather than just sprinkling cinnamon around the feeders, there are some bait recipes on: https://www.pestwiki.com/diy-homemade-ant-traps/ - I particularly like the idea of using baking soda ! - but they don't go into any details of how to make the traps themselves ...
LJ

[mtnb]

What a funny article, LJ! lol ..."If you find that the ants are eating the bait but are only getting fatter, increase the amount of boric acid in the mixture." Hahaha I am so gonna try the powdered sugar and baking soda one! Lol!

[Captain776]

I may have found something that works.
It is a chalk stick.
The box I have is in Thai but I Googled " ant repellent chalk stick"
 and then click images, you will see what I am talking about.
It appears to maybe have some Oil it because when I rubbed it on the first 6 inches of my table legs, it stays on well and doesn't just make a dry chalky powder.
I put in on 4 days ago now and I do not see even one ant.

Stay tuned

[BeeMaster2]

Bruce,
Bee careful with that chalk. It is very toxic and most of them look just like the chalk kids play with. I do not know if you have children or have family that visit but they end up in the hands of unsuspecting kids that get very sick. It is illegal here in the states.
Jim

[Asia-Off-Grid]

Johnson's baby powder gets rid of them nicely. During our dry seasons, which last about six months, it's perfect. Naturally, when rainy season comes around, it needs to be replaced often.

[Captain776]

Bruce,
Bee careful with that chalk. It is very toxic and most of them look just like the chalk kids play with. I do not know if you have children or have family that visit but they end up in the hands of unsuspecting kids that get very sick. It is illegal here in the states.
Jim

Just the wife and I.
It is only on the bottom of legs, still no ants.

[Mech]

Bruce I did the oil/ grease moat thing and it is messy.
It is also bad for the eniorment.
I also greased the legs of my table and that worked best
They haven't been back in a couple years but when they do I am thinking of a sweet borax or glycol modified trap system so bees or good critters can't be harmed that can easily be taken out of the rain.

[eltalia]

... joining in as I actually have a colony of small sugar ants living on top of a hive I am
nuturing as a rescue - when ready the owner gets it back.
I'll keep the ants, they do no harm and are fun to watch whilst beewatching.

Bait "how to" that works?

1 X 250ml plastic softdrink bottle
400mm of 10ga fencing wire.
Method.
On the horizontal plane make a small hole at each end of the bottle case.
Thread fencing wire through holes and bend at 90' at exits.
Drill a 4mm hole in the screw-on lid.
Mix up maybe 60ml of honey and borax to fill bottle.
Use the wire to suspend the bottle horizontally off a tree branch.
Likewise for under a hive stand.

For those larger (ant) critters that also have a taste for insects?
5ml of tick&flea treatment[1]
1 X small hamburger patty
Method.
Mix liquid into the meat. Wear kitchen disposable gloves.
Place bait in similar trap as above or wrap in fine birdmesh.
Trap can be hung near a pathway or stapled/nailed to the path.


Cheers.

Bill

--
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[GSF]

No luck with cinnamon either

[Captain776]

Maybe a week and a half now since I applied the insecticide chalk to the legs and don't see any ants, but too early to claim victory.
I think next time I notice a problem I am going to try what Michael Bush said, put Borax in the cheap grape jelly because I don't like using anything harmful.

[Captain776]

Bruce I did the oil/ grease moat thing and it is messy.
It is also bad for the eniorment.
I also greased the legs of my table and that worked best
They haven't been back in a couple years but when they do I am thinking of a sweet borax or glycol modified trap system so bees or good critters can't be harmed that can easily be taken out of the rain.

One thing I haven't ever tried is what Micharl Bush said works. Mix Borax with grape jelly or any sweet jelly and further to your point, you can mix up jelly and Borax and then use an eye dropper or syringe and squirt it inside ant traps, like those round Black Flag ant traps.........that helps keep it away from the innocent. Just a thought

[bobsim]

  I have been using the boric acid and grape jelly for going on three years now (thanks Michael.) No water in the mix though, just cheap jelly and boric acid 50/50 then put in small mason jars with holes in the lid too small for the bees. I have top bar hives and keep one under each hive and it works well for me.

  At first the jar needs to be positioned with the holes up as the sun will thin the paste and cause it to run but after a while it becomes less viscous and it doesn't matter. I just kick them around when I mow under the hives.

  Added bonus, when a new fire ant mound pops up I can move a jar close to it and soon it's a ghost town. I'm a live and let live guy except when it comes to fire ants, maybe I'm allergic to them? When they get me I'll itch for 4-6 hours. An occasional pop from the girls is nothing in comparison. 

  Edit: Changed the word borax to boric acid.

[eltalia]

We (dot AU) have fire ants coming, with colonies detected in
Southern Queensland recently.
North though we have long had "electric ants" which infest rotting wood and look
very similar to fire ants, if somewhat smaller in size.
These guys crawl maybe 300mm up your leg before biting, so by that time there
are literally thousands of them. Like an orange cloud moving over your thongs.
They get no quarter... ant dust the whole area, end of.
Their bite is equivalent to a 24VDC burn... hence "electric ants".

Cheers.

Bill

[Captain776]

We (dot AU) have fire ants coming, with colonies detected in
Southern Queensland recently.
North though we have long had "electric ants" which infest rotting wood and look
very similar to fire ants, if somewhat smaller in size.
These guys crawl maybe 300mm up your leg before biting, so by that time there
are literally thousands of them. Like an orange cloud moving over your thongs.
They get no quarter... ant dust the whole area, end of.
Their bite is equivalent to a 24VDC burn... hence "electric ants".

Cheers.

Lived and worked in Bunbury and Gladstone. You got some bad critters there.
8 of the 10 deadliest snakes on the planet, bad ants, bad spiders, bad bees, deadly snakes, never ending great white attacks, we had a Brown under our office trailer in Aldoga outside Gladstone.........they are viscous and not afraid and they do not back down

Bill