Have you ever observed the life of ants? This is an extraordinary world with its own orders, laws, relationships. In order not to go to the forest to the anthill, we suggest you create your own ant farm. Having settled small inhabitants in it, you will be able to observe how paths and tunnels are being built, and how important these little hardworking creatures are scurrying back and forth, as if they are doing someone's task. How to make an ant farm with your own hands, we will tell you in this article.
What do you need for a farm?
You need two jars with lids - one larger and one smaller (so that the second can fit inside the first). Ants and earth will be placed in the space between the small and large container. A smaller jar is needed to leave space in the center.
Ants will be able to lay their eggs at the top edge and build tunnels, and you can watch this process. For "construction" sealedcontainers. You can use them to create the desired size of the farm. Please note that the jars should not have drawings, cracks, scratches, etc. If you want your ant farm (with ants) to be flat, buy a small, narrow aquarium at your local pet store.
What are ant farms like?
Ant farm can be of several types. The differences lie in the composition of the filler. The most common accepted are:
- soil-sandy;
- gypsum;
- gel.
Let's consider each of these types in more detail.
Soil-sand farm
First, prepare a mixture of sand and soil. Ants need a humid environment. This will allow small residents to dig tunnels and paths. If you collect ants in your country house or yard, use the same land so that they, having moved to a new house, find themselves in their usual habitat. It will take enough earth to fill the space in the bank. Loosen it well.
Mix two parts soil with one part sand. You can buy fertilized soil and sand from the gardening department and mix them well. If you buy special ants from a farm in a pet store, the necessary mixture is included.
Looking for an anthill
Now you need to find "tenants" for your farm. The easiest way to find ants is on the street. You will not have any difficulties with this, especially if you involve your child in this process. Small anthills are often found in yards. You can find them if you follow where the little workers are in such a hurry with their finds. When you go to collect ants, bring gloves, a jar with a tight lid, and a scoop.
In the lid, make a few holes with a needle (for air access). They must be very small so that the insects cannot get out. Drop honey or jam on the bottom of the jar. In this case, the ants will gather around the sweet treat and will not try to get out. Very carefully dig up the inhabitants of the anthill and move them to the jar.
Try to find the uterus. You will immediately recognize her - she is much larger than the rest of the inhabitants of the anthill. An ant farm inhabited only by working insects that live on the surface will last no more than four weeks. This is how long these insects live in natural conditions. An ant queen, which is ready to lay eggs, can be found near anthills in early autumn, immediately after mating has occurred between males and females. In addition, the uterus can be bought from professional breeders. Your ant farm can start with 30-40 insects.
Building a farm
Now you can start building the farm. Cover the smaller jar with a lid and place it in the larger one. To make it stand in the center, you can glue it to the bottom with glue. Pour in the earth. Make sure the lid is closed tightly. Fill the space between the banks with a soil-sand mixture. This composition should not be tightly packed - ants do notwill be able to move inside.
The soil should not reach about 1.5 cm to the top of the jar. This is necessary so that the insects cannot get out when you open the lid. Plant the ants in a jar and close it. Do it very carefully. Use a needle to make air holes in the lid.
Farm maintenance
We figured out how to make an ant farm. Now you need to learn how to care for her.
- You need to regularly moisten the soil and feed the inhabitants of the farm. Every 3-4 days, throw small pieces of fresh fruit into a jar, a few drops of jam or honey - ants have a sweet tooth, they are very fond of sugar.
- Ants should not be given meat or any other cooked food. Otherwise, your ant farm will attract unwanted insects.
- When you are not watching insects, cover the jar with a light dark cloth. The fact is that ants dig their tunnels at night, in complete darkness. If this is not done, the insects will be in a state of constant stress and may become inactive.
- Ants are fragile creatures, rough handling can kill them due to the collapse of the tunnels. Therefore, the jar should not be shaken.
- The ant farm (you see the photo in this article) should be in a warm room (at a constant temperature.
- Keep the farm out of direct sunlight. The sides of the jar may get hot and the ants will die.
Gel farm
Gel ant farmnow sold in stores in a complete set. Of course, the set of such a farm does not include its inhabitants. They must be bought separately or collected in the yard or in the forest. You can make such a house for ants with your own hands. We assure you that it will be interesting not only for children, but also for adult naturalists to watch how insects dig tunnels, pulling pieces of gel to the surface.
For this you will need:
- flat container with lid and transparent walls;
- gelatin.
Preparing the gel
Three sachets of gelatin (15 g each) pour 0.5 liters of hot water, stir well so that the gelatin is completely dissolved. After that, add another 0.5 liters of water. Pour the finished composition into a container and put it in the refrigerator. When it hardens, remove it and wait until the gel mass reaches room temperature.
Aquarium gel can be bought ready-made in the store, but it is more interesting to make it yourself. You should know that such a filler for an ant house is not only a habitat, but also food. As soon as you make a small indentation in the gel and plant ants in it, they will immediately begin to “eat away” their moves and build tunnels. Let us remind you once again that ants living on a gel farm do not need to be fed and watered. The gel is a source of moisture and food for them.
Gypsum ant farm
Such a formicarium (as an ant farm is also called) is attractive in that it is completelyopen for insect watching.
To create it, you need a transparent container. Dilute gypsum to the consistency of sour cream. Pour the resulting composition into a container, after placing an ordinary plastic tube in it (near the side). It should reach to the bottom of the container. This is necessary in order to later pour water into the formicarium, which will maintain the humidity level.
After pouring the composition, the workpiece sets very quickly, but dries completely after about a week. On the third or fourth day, take it out of the mold. If it doesn't come out easily, soak it in hot (but not boiling) water for thirty seconds. After that, the workpiece will easily come out of the mold.
Now it's time to show your design skills, that is, "draw" on the blank "rooms and corridors". At this time, the composition is still raw, so you can easily scratch out any tunnels on it - it depends on your imagination. Although amateurs who already have an ant farm recommend studying the structure of a real anthill so that the moves are as close to natural as possible.
Two entrances for the inhabitants of the formicarium can be drilled with a drill. Now take any convenient tool (stationery knife, screwdriver, etc.) and start making tunnels according to your drawing applied to the workpiece, choosing gypsum from them. Do this carefully so that the composition that has not yet dried completely does not crumble.
At the bottom of the workpiece should be doneseveral recesses for better distribution of water and moistening of the formicarium. They must be connected by a small channel with a cocktail tube. Such recesses significantly reduce the weight of the formicarium. Don't forget to make ventilation holes in the top cover and sides. To do this, you can use a 0.5 mm drill.
Your farm is almost ready. It remains to dry it well and place it in a container. Here again you may encounter a problem - the dried blank will not want to go back into the mold. Don't be discouraged, but put it in hot water again for 30 seconds, and it will easily enter the container.
It remains to find ants for the formicarium. There are many types of them, therefore, before purchasing, it is advisable to look through the special literature in order to select the most unpretentious of them. After settling the farm, you will be able to study the life of these insects.
Tips
As you can see, do-it-yourself ant farm is made quite simply from any material. In conclusion, I would like to give a few tips that will be useful to you.
- You can feed dead insects to ants, but only if you are sure they are not poisonous.
- Plant insects of the same species in the farm. Two colonies can't get along, they can fight to the death. Therefore, even if you catch ants yourself, try to collect them from one anthill.
- All ants bite. Some less often, others more often. For example, red ants bite and sting very painfully. Souse gloves.
