How to Ant Farm
Being an ant farmer can be a fun way to learn about the inner workings of an insect colony. An ant farm works by encasing a small group of ants inside of glass or plastic walls with the same natural habitat they would have in nature. This way you can observe their daily rituals. With the proper feeding and maintenance, an ant colony can last for several months to several years, depending on the species.
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Things You'll Need
- Two glass containers with lids
- Ants
- Refrigerator
- Paper cone or funnel
- Straight pin
- Tape
- Paper
- Ant foods
Instructions
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Prepare a home for the ants. The ants' home will be made up of two glass containers. One container should be slightly bigger than the other one. Put the smaller container inside the bigger one. There should be adequate space between the two containers.
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2
Position the glass containers in your backyard. Select a location where the glass containers can be permanently positioned. Moving the glass containers around will disrupt the ants.
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3
Find an anthill around your yard. After finding one, use a shovel to dig it up so the ants will come out. Scoop the soil with the ants and put it in a bucket. Find the eggs, the queen ant and the larvae and put them in the bucket as well.
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4
Slow down the movement of the ants by putting them inside the refrigerator for at least five minutes. Take them out of the refrigerator afterward.
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Put a lid on the small container. The ants should only stay in the space between the two containers. Fill the larger container with soil from the anthill halfway up the jar.
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Put the ants in the glass container. Use a cone made from a coffee filter or a funnel to slide the ants into the jar. Put the worker ants in first before the larvae, eggs and the queen ant.
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Create an airflow within the container by making small holes in the bigger container's lid using a screwdriver or a hammer and nail. Cover the lid with a breathable cloth to prevent the ants from getting out, while still allowing air to get in.
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Design the glass container in such a way that it will resemble an underground environment. You can do this by taping paper around the container to make it darker.
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Take care of the ants inside the container. Feed them regularly with sweet foods such as honey drops, sugar crumbles, bread crumbs, and tidbits of fruits and vegetables. Provide a water supply for them by putting wet cotton balls in the container, or use an eyedropper to put in drops of water. You can feed them with frozen crickets chopped into small pieces as well.
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Remove the ants inside the container when they die. Typical ants can live up to six months so you have to take note of the time. Replace them with another set of ants when they die.
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References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
