elif_arici · İzmir, TR · Pests & Disease · Jul 16, 2026

Ants marching into my hive in a line — do the oil-cup stands actually work? Is cinnamon real?

İzmir, second year, 3 hives on a wooden stand in the garden. This morning I found a proper ant highway going up one stand leg and straight into the back seam of my weakest hive. Watched them coming out carrying... something. Probably syrup from the feeder I still had on, which I've now removed. Everyone on Turkish beekeeping Facebook has a different answer: some swear by putting the stand legs in cups of oil, some say sprinkle cinnamon everywhere, one guy says just rub the legs with grease once a month. My aunt says plant mint around the stand. What actually works long term? And should I be worried about the colony itself, or are ants mostly just a nuisance stealing a bit of syrup? They're the small black ones, not the huge ones.

#ants#hive-stand#pest-control

▲ 10 votes 💬 3 replies

3 replies

muglabalci · Jul 16, 2026

Merhaba komşu. Oil cups genuinely work and keep working — that's what my out-apiaries stand in. Use cheap oil, top them up after rain, and make sure NOTHING else touches the hive: no grass grown up the legs, no branch resting on a roof. Ants always find the bridge you forgot. Cinnamon works for about two days and then it doesn't; it's repellent, not a barrier. Small black ants raiding syrup are a nuisance, not a threat — a strong colony guards the combs fine. The real fix for your weakest hive is making it not the weakest hive.

TopBarDavid · Jul 16, 2026

Here in Enugu ants are my number one pest, worse than anything else, and I confirm the oil moat is the only permanent answer. I use old engine oil in tins around concrete stand legs. Grease bands work but must be renewed monthly like your Facebook guy says — in between renewals is when they get in. Mint did nothing for me, sorry to your aunt.

SourwoodGrace · Jul 16, 2026

Third year in North Carolina and I fought ants all last summer until someone told me the boring truth: my hive had a gap at the back where the boxes didn't sit flush, and that sheltered seam was the attraction as much as the syrup. Fixed the woodware, put legs in oil cans, zero ants this year.

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