Most useful trick ever

[Acromyrmexbob]

I do this for all of the ant colonies I have ever set up and it is fantastic. So you've got your design and you put the ants in it. And everything goes well, the colony grows and is feeding. But.....in the wild the ants can adapt their surroundings to suit. They can close burrows and open others. They can effectively set up air conditioning. Much as you think your design is very good, how do you know if it suits the ants. What you do is add a spoonful of soil or compost to the feeding area. Immediately the ants will start to carry it in to the nest. They will use it to seal up a portion of the entrance. Or they will block ventillation holes. The point is, the ants will change what you have offered them to suit. They know if too much air s circulating the fungus, it humidity is being lost because of over ventillation. It is sobering to see how the ants change what looks to you and me like a perfect set up. In South Korea they had got plans for nest boxes which were very impressive, with entrances, mesh vents etc. I added a little soil and the immediately sealed all of the air vents up, within an hour. They also build a structure around the entrance reducing the size to approximately what you would see in nature. Artificial set ups are great to look at but I suggest you allow the ants to modify your ideas slightly by giving them some materials to work with. They are actually fixing the design flaws and working with you to create the perfect setup.

[Acromyrmexbob]

Just to illustrate this, here is a picture of an ant colony from South Korea that I gave some soil to. The soil you can see on the roof of this nest tank is actually where a vent used to be. Clearly the ants were unhappy with the amount of air passing through the nest so they decided to close it within an hour of the soil going in. Must be a better way of working with the ants.

[Acromyrmexbob]

Interesting addition to this technique is that if you use plaster in the base and then add soil / peat on top the ants will mix the soil with bits of plaster. When they stack up the soil with the plaster this mixture is very stable and is a strong material for the ants to build with. I have seen several setups like this. The white and black soil looks less attractive and less natural but I am sure it is better at holding moisture and more easily shaped the way the ants want it.