Ant food
Feeding is the most exciting part of keeping ants: it is when you see them search for food, call the others and share their catch.
Feeding as a chance to observe
Put a drop of syrup in the arena and a scout will soon find it, head back to the nest laying a scent trail and bring others along. Hunting ants attack an insect as a group, while harvesters carry seeds to their granaries and later grind them into 'ant bread'. Well-fed workers have visibly swollen gasters as they carry food to nestmates and pass it on mouth to mouth.
What a colony needs
- Sugars fuel the workers: diluted honey, syrup or jelly.
- Protein builds the larvae: feeder insects. Without protein a colony stops growing.
- Seeds are the staple of harvester ants.
- Water at all times, in a feeder where ants cannot drown.
A few rules
Give as much as the colony eats in a day and remove leftovers so mould does not develop. Do not feed insects caught outdoors, as they may carry pesticides. Before hibernation, taper off feeding and leave only water.