We get a lot of questions everyday from people looking to get into ant keeping! Here's a brief guide on how ant-keeping works.
How does an ant colony start?
Ant colonies typically start from a single queen which seals herself off in a chamber and starts laying eggs. She metabolizes her wing muscles and food stores to raise her first brood of workers, which typically arrive within a month and a half. During this time, she does not need food, though it is nice to offer some anyway. Of course, there are exceptions. You may learn about them in the "Fertility Guarantee" section.
Do I need to feed the ants? If so, what?
You do not need to feed queens until they get workers, with a couple exceptions (none of which are beginner species). We have a feeding guide, but the gist is that they need some liquid sugar and some form of protein.
What do you sell?
We sell ant colonies and single queens from which you can start growing a colony, as well as supplies to make the process easier.
How many workers do I buy?
A single queen will normally start producing workers herself. As a general rule, a colony will grow faster with more workers to do tasks around the nest. A 10 worker colony will consistently grow (hatch more workers) faster than a 5 worker colony, and vice versa. More queens or more workers mean you get more activity inside the nest, and outside the nest. The smaller the colony, the less activity you see.
How will the ants be shipped?
We ship our ants in test tubes, which are typically the most conventional way to raise ants. You can either move them to a nest (Preferably the ants can fill up around 30% of the nest at minimum), or maintain them in the test tube until the water runs out, where you would move them into another test tube, or a nest.