Ants farm with ants. How to make an ants farm with their own hands?

Did you have to watch the life of ants? This is an extraordinary world with its own order, laws, relationships. In order not to go to the forest to an anthill, we suggest you create your own ant farm. Having planted small inhabitants in it, you can observe how the paths and tunnels are built, and how important these small hard-working creatures scurry back and forth, as if they are carrying out somebody's task. How to make an ants farm with your own hands, we'll tell you in this article.

What do you need for the farm?

You need two cans with lids - one larger, one smaller (so that the second can fit inside the first one). Ants and earth will be located in the space between a small and large capacity. A smaller bank is needed to leave space in the center.

Ants will be able to lay eggs at the top edge and build tunnels, and you can watch this process. For "construction" sealed containers are perfectly suitable. You can create the required farm size with them. Note that there should be no drawings, cracks, scratches, etc. on the jars. If you want your ant farm (with ants) to be flat, buy a small narrow aquarium in the nearest pet store.

What are the ant farms?

Ants farm can be of several kinds. Differences are in the composition of the filler. The most common are:

• Soil-sand;
• Gypsum;
• Gel.

Let's consider each of these species in more detail.

Soil-sand farm

First you should prepare a mixture of sand and soil. Ants need a moistened environment. This will allow small residents to dig tunnels and paths. If you collect the ants in your dacha or in the yard, use the same land, so that they, having moved to a new house, find themselves in the habitual habitat. The earth will need so much to fill the space in the bank. Well loosen it.

Mix the two parts of the soil with one piece of sand. You can buy fertilized soil and sand in the horticulture department and mix them well. If you buy special ants from a farm in a pet store, then they are accompanied by the necessary mixture.

Looking for an anthill

Now you need to find "tenants" for your farm. The easiest way is to find ants on the street. With this you will not have any difficulties, especially if you connect your child to this process. Anthills of small sizes are often found in yards. You can find them if you follow where little workers are hurrying with their findings. Going to the collection of 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 can not get out. At the bottom of the cans, drip honey or jam. In this case, the ants will gather around the sweet treat and will not try to get out. Very carefully dig out the inhabitants of the anthill and move them to the jar.

Try to find the uterus. You immediately recognize it - it is much larger than the rest of the inhabitants of the anthill. Ants farm, which is populated only by working insects that live on the surface, will last no more than four weeks. Just so many of these insects live in natural conditions. The ant uterus, which is ready to lay eggs, can be found in the early autumn near the anthills, immediately after the mating has occurred between the males and females. In addition, the uterus can be bought from professional breeders. Your ants farm can take 30-40 insects to begin with.

Building a Farm

Now you can start building a farm. Close the smaller jar and place it in the large one. That it stood in the center, you can glue it to the bottom with the help of glue. Pour the earth. Make sure that the lid is closed tightly. Spread the space between the banks with the soil-sand mix. This composition should not be densely packed - the ants will not be able to move inside.

Up to the top of the can, the soil should not reach about 1.5 cm. This is necessary so that insects can not escape when you open the lid. Put the ants in the jar and close it. Do it very carefully. In the lid, use a needle to make air holes.

Care of the farm

We figured out how to make an ant farm. Now you need to find out how to take care of it.

1. It is necessary to regularly moisten the soil and feed the inhabitants of the farm. Every 3-4 days throw in a jar small pieces of fresh fruit, a few drops of jam or honey - sweet tooth ants, they are very fond of sugar.
2. Ants should not be given meat or any other cooked food. Otherwise, your ant farm will attract unwanted insects.
3. When you do not observe the insects, cover the jar with a light dark cloth. The fact is that the ants dig their tunnels at night, in total darkness. If this is not done, insects will be in a state of constant stress and may lose activity.
4. Ants - the creatures are fragile, rough handling can ruin them because of the collapse of tunnels. Therefore, the bank should not shake.
5. Ants farm (the photo you see in this article) should be in a warm room (at a constant temperature.
6. Do not allow direct sunlight to reach the farm. The walls of the jar can heat up, and the ants will die.

Farm with gel filler

Gel ant farm is now sold in stores in full. 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 a house for ants and with your own hands. We assure you that it will be interesting not only to children, but also to adult naturalists to observe how insects dig tunnels, pulling pieces of gel to the surface.

To do this you will need:

• Flat container with lid and transparent walls;
• gelatin.

Preparing the gel

Three bags of gelatin (15 grams each), pour 0.5 liters of hot water, stir well, so that the gelatin is completely dissolved. Then add another 0.5 liters of water. Pour the finished product into a container and put it in the refrigerator. When it freezes, remove it and wait for the gel mass to reach room temperature.

The gel for the aquarium can be bought in the store in ready-made form, but it is more interesting to make it yourself. You should know that such a filler for the ant house is not only the habitat, but also food. Once you make a small groove in the gel and put the ants into it, they will immediately begin to "eat" their moves and build tunnels. Once again, ants living on a gel farm do not need to be watered and fed. The gel is a source of moisture and food for them.

Gypsum ant farm

This formica (also called an ant farm) is attractive in that it is completely open to insect observations.

To create it, you need a transparent container. We prepare the gypsum to the consistency of sour cream. The resulting composition is poured into the container, having previously put into it (at the side) an ordinary plastic tube. It should reach the bottom of the container. This is necessary in order to later pour in the form water, which will maintain the level of humidity.

After pouring the composition, the billet seizes very quickly, but it dries out completely after about a week. On the third or fourth day, get it out of shape. If it is not easy to go out, dip 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 workpiece "rooms and corridors." At this time, the composition is still damp, so it's easy to scratch any tunnels - it depends on your imagination. Although lovers who already have an ant farm, it is recommended to study the device of a real anthill so that the moves are as close to natural as possible.

Two entrances for residents of the formica can be drilled with a drill. Now take any convenient tool (clerical knife, screwdriver, etc.) and start by drawing on the workpiece, make tunnels, choosing from them a gypsum. Do this carefully, so that the whole composition that has not dried up yet does not crumble.

At the bottom of the billet, several depressions should be made to better distribute water and moisten the formica. They need to be connected with a small channel with a cocktail tube. Such depressions significantly reduce the weight of the formica. Do not forget to make the ventilation holes in the top cover and the sides. A 0.5 mm drill can be used for this.

Your farm is almost ready. It remains to dry it well and place it in a container. Here you can again face the problem - the dried billet does not want to go back into the mold. Do not be discouraged, and again put it for 30 seconds in hot water, and it will easily enter the container.

It remains to find the ants for the formica. There are many kinds of them, so before buying it is desirable to look through the special literature to find the most unpretentious of them. After the settlement of the farm you will be able to study the life of these insects.

Advice

As you can see, the ant farm with its own hands is made quite easily from any material. In conclusion, I would like to give a few tips that will be useful to you.

• Ants can be fed dead insects, but only if you are sure that they are not poisonous.
• Plant one insect species into the farm. Two colonies can not get along together, they can fight to death. Therefore, even if you yourself catch ants, try to collect them from one anthill.
• All the ants bite. Some - less often, others - more often. For example, red ants bite and sting very painful. Therefore, use gloves.