Ant Farm Update #1
May 6th, 2008
Some readers may recall that a while ago I received a much-celebrated ant farm for my birthday. Well, now the English weather has warmed up a bit, the ground is crawling with little ants, and I decided it was time to capture some guests. Having given up on my crude jam-filled ant trap (by now, a science experiment in itself), I resorted to a jar and a stick. After a bit of poking around the dirt I had ten fine ant specimens - I mean, guests, in a jar. I put them in the fridge to make them sleepy and then shook them into my farm.
At first the ants huddled in a corner, so I assumed they were a little freaked and I put them in a dark cupboard to adjust to their new blue-gel wonderland. When I came back, four ants were crawling on the ceiling of the ant farm, and the rest - were nowhere to be seen! In less than two hours, over half my ants had squeezed through the pre-drilled air holes to freedom. Apparently, when they were huddled up, the mischevious little things were already planning a jailbreak.
So I taped up the air holes and put them back. I estimate there’s about 60 cubic centimetres of air in the farm, which should be enough to keep them going for a while.
After that I captured some more ants (from the same spot, naturally) and added them to my little insect kingdom. I didn’t bother chilling them this time, and I regretted that decision. The expression ‘herding cats’ is a misnomer, let me tell you. Once again I put my guests into storage to get settled in. When I came back, I discovered this:
My captive ants were systematically tearing away the rubber seal of the lid!! I had to admire the persistence and problem-solving abilities of the little buggers. To express this admiration, I taped up the entire lid to make sure this escape attempt was doomed. Even now, the ants have rejected my helpful starter tunnels and have made no attempt at building a hive, instead putting all their efforts into escape. I’m now keeping a close eye on my guests, and will report their future exploits.
Entry Filed under: General
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7 Comments Add your own
1. SBERGUS | May 6th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
I’m not an antologist (or whatever the fancy name is) but don’t you need a queen to motivate the workers into building tunnels?
2. Lave | May 7th, 2008 at 2:57 am
I’ve always wanted one of these so I will be living this through you. till I get round to getting my own.
3. Martin | May 7th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Take a cup of water and dissolve some sugar in it. Get a pipette, and use it to put a few drops of sugar water into/around your starter tunnels. That should start them digging with any luck, allegedly.
4. hairnet | May 10th, 2008 at 11:14 am
How much do these things cost, looks well cool!
5. Bob | May 10th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Like u need a queen, man. Doesn’t that thing come with decent instructions??
6. HM8 | May 22nd, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Ya, you’ll need a queen. The ants have would have no reason to start a colony and dig tunnels otherwise.
I’m sure you could find some kind of “ant starter kit” thing with a queen online.
7. Pete | May 22nd, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Want a cool ant farm, just dig up the whole damn colony you found, including the queen. The cover does need air holes. If the queen tries to escape, let her fly off, then find another one. Without a queen, the rest of the ants will want to leave. Gotta feed those guys - tiny pieces of apple and bananas will make ‘em happy.
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