How to Make a Gel Ant Farm at Home
Making an ant farm can be fun and educational. There are, however, problems with traditional ant farms. They are expensive and you cannot see the ants unless they are near the glass walls. Luckily, you can make your own ant farm at home for considerably less money using a jelly jar. Plus, if you use gel, you will be able to see the ants no matter where they are, and the gel will also feed the ants for you.
Things You'll Need
- Replacement ant gel
- Glass Jar
- Soap
- Paper towels
- Sugar
- Baby food jar
- Pie plate
- Screw
- Screwdriver
- Plastic storage container
- Straw
- Shovel
- Tissue paper
- Rubber band
- Towel
- Lamp
Instructions
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1
Purchase replacement gel for ant colonies. These gels can be purchased online or at toy stores.
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2
Clean an empty glass jar. Jelly jars work well. Use soap and warm running water to clean the jar. Use a paper towel to thoroughly dry the jar.
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3
Place the gel into the glass jar. The gel should come up to just below the neck of the jar. Set it aside until your ants are ready.
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4
Catch ants for your ant farm. You can either use a sugar water mixture to attract ants or you can dig them up.
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5
Place you ants into your ant farm and seal the jar.
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Add additional gel as needed. Once the ants have dug so many tunnels that the gel is collapsing on itself, it is time to add more to the jar. Simply add the additional gel on top of the old gel. Or, if you find that the ants are dying, you can empty the jar and start all over again.
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Tips & Warnings
To catch ants with a sugar water mixture, mix one part sugar with two parts water. Mix thoroughly. Place your sugar water into any empty baby food jar. Place the baby food jar inside a shallow pie plate. Place it all outside in the grass and watch for the ants to arrive over the next several days. Pluck your ants from the pie plate and place them into your gel farm.
To catch ants by digging them up, punch a hole in the lid of a plastic storage container. Dig up an ant hill and place it in the storage container with a lid. Insert a bendy straw through the hole in the lid and place the other end through a piece of tissue paper covering your gel jar. Wrap the gel in a towel to keep it dark and cool. Place a lamp over the plastic container and watch as your ants climb up the straw and into the jar to get away from the light and heat of the lamp.
Be aware of the type of ants you are dealing with. Some types, like red fire ants, will bite. If you are unsure if the ants you are working with bite or not, it is best to avoid them all together.
References
Comments
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Try antchow.com for replacement ant gel. It makes more than one quart of gel, which is enough to fill three antworks type ant farms. You can add food coloring to make it any color you want.
