Using cinnamon to naturally take care of an ant problem is pretty popular on the Internet. You’ll find article after article detailing the steps of eliminating an ant problem yourself using only cinnamon.

A study published in the International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications in 2014 showed that cinnamon essentialoil is in fact highly effective in repelling and killing ants at certain concentrations.

So yes, cinnamon essential oil can repel and even kill ants, but note that it’s “at certain concentrations”, and the cinnamon essential oils you can buy at any store may not have the same level of concentration as the cinnamon essential oils used in the study.
Cinnamon sticks and cinnamon powders can also repel ants, but it won’t kill them. Sprinkling cinnamon powder on ants will only scatter them and make them angry, and placing cinnamon sticks on their entry points and routes will only make them find a new way in and out of your house.

Taking care of an ant problem means finding the nest and eliminating all the ants there, and your store-bought cinnamon oil may not be potent enough to kill them and only repel them – and that won’t help you in the long run.
If you discover an ant nest or mound, you’d be better off using commercial insecticide,or better yet, use professional grade insecticide that is sureto get the job done.

Most of the ants you see in your home are only a small fraction of the colony that is surely nearby – and those are forager ants, meaning they’re only there to look for food. You can help yourself out by eliminating possible food sources for these ants so they’ll be forced to look elsewhere.

Mop and vacuum your kitchen and clean your food pantry to ensure there aren’t morsels of food ants can help themselves to. Immediately clean up any food spillage, and regularly sweep to make sure there are no crumbs and other food debris that will entice ants and other pests.

Keep your food in airtight containers (note that some ants can chew through plastic), and keep them in places not easily accessible to ants. If you’re keeping pastry on your kitchen counter, consider placing the container on a tray filled with water, and you may also want to cover it with something in case a fly wanders in.

While ants can get in your house just about anywhere including the cracks between your floorboards, it can help stave off an ant infestation (or other pest infestation) if you seal and caulk cracks and crevices on your property.

Ants are one of the most pervasive critters you’ll find inside or outside of your home, and are in fact the most commonly reported pest in the US, according to the National Pest Management Association.

Ants are an extremely social creature, and where you’ll find one, you’ll find a colony or colonies nearby. The odd ant you’ll see here and there would be an ant assigned to look for food, which it will likely find in your kitchen. If you see a line of ants, it may be difficult to follow it back to their colony so you can see what you’re up against, but it would be worthwhile to at least follow the trail to their food source so you can properly store it away or dispose of it.

Eliminating ants isn’t as easy as other pests, since it’s not as simple matter of keeping your house clean, though it will help. Keep your food in places they can’t reach such as a closed container, and make sure you always clean up any spills.

Using chalk will only scatter them and leave them room to reorganize, and spraying them with insecticide will kill them, but the ants you see are only about 5% of the total number they have in their colonies. Once another ant foraging for food discovers a new food source, or rediscovers their old one, you’ll see a new line of ants in no time.

Sealing off entry points in your house – cracks in your walls, netting on windows, etc. – works great for other pests, but ants can get in just about anywhere, including between your baseboard.

You can try to follow their trail that leads to their colony so you can eliminate the problem entirely, but in most cases with an ant infestation, it’s best to have a professional come and do it for you.