Ant Farm

How many of you had Uncle Milton's ant farms when you were kids? I remember my brother having an ant farm, and then I wanted one too. I fondly remember that green plastic encased ant "home" with the green plastic farm silhouettes that sat inside above the area of sand for the ants to dig tunnels in. It was fun for awhile, but I don't remember what happened to that "toy." I think all the ants soon died and it was no longer any fun! My parents probably quietly threw away the farm while I was at school or something.

First time heard of it. Are we talking about a real artificial ant farm that is designed for ants to colonize it or just a toy with no real ant?


I used to play with ants in the backyard when I was a kid. Feeding them with sugar, honey, sometimes worms.
If what you showed is a real ant farm, how do you get ants to move in?

You buy the ant farm in the toy section of the store. The ones we had as kids were like the small 3rd photo. Then you had to send away for the live ants. They were mailed to you in an envelope. You put them inside the ant farm with the sand already in it and they start to make tunnels throughout. I can't remember what we fed them to keep them alive. Actually, I don't remember them staying alive for very long! Poor little things!

If I am not mistaken, most ant workers can only live for 6 months while the queen can live for 3 years. They don't have long life span to begin with. Did they send you a queen ant or just worker ants? Without a queen, the colony can't sustain itself for very long. Ants can eat all kinds of food, they love sweet things.

I cannot believe that they used to sell these in the toy section. My brother had one when we were little. I thought they were neat. I cannot imagine letting my kids have one now. They are really disgusting and I could not imagine what would happen if they got out. We would have an ant infestation. So gross! I hope my kids don't find out about these until they are much older.

(07-26-2012, 06:21 AM)Thor Wrote: If I am not mistaken, most ant workers can only live for 6 months while the queen can live for 3 years. They don't have long life span to begin with. Did they send you a queen ant or just worker ants? Without a queen, the colony can't sustain itself for very long. Ants can eat all kinds of food, they love sweet things.

Hey, I never knew that about ants, Thor! Very interesting that they have such a short lifespan for the worker guys! It's so good to be QUEEN! LOL!
I had no idea what ants were sent when I was a kid. I imagine it was just random workers though. That's most likely why the ants didn't last long. I looked up some reviews of the Uncle Milton ant farm, and I see that it is a big complaint - the ants die quickly.

Now dashboard, you just said you thought your brother's ant farm was neat when you were a kid! Just think of what you're depriving your own kids of now! The joy of owning and learning from an ant farm! Come on, I think you should buy one! You could get one of the new improved ones like the first two photos show!

Have you read my little scientific experiment with ants?

It was a very puny "colony". I wouldn't call it an ant farm. The ants were also released in just a few days back to where I found them. No idea how long they would live if I didn't release them though. They sure didn't even care about home when there is honey.

If I am still a kid, I'd definitely get this ant farm and start all over lol. How much is this ant farm anyway?

I just read your experiment that you linked to. That was a very interesting experiment you conducted! I'm surprised you didn't grow up to be a scientist or someone in the behaviorist field.
I don't remember ever doing experiments when I was a kid. As for ants, I never really liked them all that much. They're not scary like spiders, but I don't want them in my house now. We do get them because our home is on a slab (water table is high since we're on a lake) and our Eclectus parrot throws his food on the floor, which brings the ants. I kill them when I see them. We use a poison free spray that has mint oil - ants die quickly with this spray. The husband has bought ant traps, but we've found the ants can outsmart the traps. The ones who see their dead comrades in there will fill the traps with sand so no one else can get in and be poisoned! Genius!

I don't know what those ant farms sell for nowadays.

(07-26-2012, 06:21 AM)Thor Wrote: If I am not mistaken, most ant workers can only live for 6 months while the queen can live for 3 years. They don't have long life span to begin with. Did they send you a queen ant or just worker ants? Without a queen, the colony can't sustain itself for very long. Ants can eat all kinds of food, they love sweet things.

I had several ant farms when I was younger and loved them. You're right however, they only send you the worker ants. I believe I actually read on the package that it was illegal to sell queen ants per the USDA. I recall the first ant farm I had meeting an untimely end when I fed them just a bit too much honey and they all ended up getting stuck in it and dying. I did better with the next one though and only fed them a small dab of honey occasionally and offset that by feeding them dead or alive small insects. I'd like to get a much larger ant farm some day as I think they're one of the most interesting things to watch.

(09-10-2012, 11:37 AM)Msmonkeyfeet Wrote: I had several ant farms when I was younger and loved them. You're right however, they only send you the worker ants. I believe I actually read on the package that it was illegal to sell queen ants per the USDA. I recall the first ant farm I had meeting an untimely end when I fed them just a bit too much honey and they all ended up getting stuck in it and dying. I did better with the next one though and only fed them a small dab of honey occasionally and offset that by feeding them dead or alive small insects. I'd like to get a much larger ant farm some day as I think they're one of the most interesting things to watch.

How long did your ant farms last with just worker ants to begin with?

What do you mean by they get stuck in it when you fed them too much honey? Did their belly get too big and got stuck in the tunnels? It sure sound like it.

I can understand why they make queen ants illegal for sale if the species is not native to the selling location. I don't see any harm done if they are just selling a native species.

(09-11-2012, 04:04 AM)Thor Wrote: How long did your ant farms last with just worker ants to begin with?

What do you mean by they get stuck in it when you fed them too much honey? Did their belly get too big and got stuck in the tunnels? It sure sound like it.

I can understand why they make queen ants illegal for sale if the species is not native to the selling location. I don't see any harm done if they are just selling a native species.

They lasted about a month I believe, they probably would have lasted longer if I'd taken better care of them. And they got stuck in the honey because, well, honey is sticky! They were trapped in the honey because there was too much of it and couldn't get out so they died. They don't sell/ship queen ants because of the fact that you'd be introducing a queen that can produce over 10,000 baby ants a time into a place and potentially wreaking havoc on the native ecosystem. Ants may be native to that particular place but THAT queen ant isn't.

Msmonkeyfeet, you only need to give the ants very very tiny amount of honey. Not even one drop. Just 1/10 of a drop and spread it out, so it is no longer a drop which could have stuck the ants, and instead it just covers some surface areas for the ants to lick on. They can also enjoy sugar. It is safer than honey if you don't want them get stuck again.

Have you decided to give it another shot?

(09-12-2012, 06:50 AM)Ram Wrote: Msmonkeyfeet, you only need to give the ants very very tiny amount of honey. Not even one drop. Just 1/10 of a drop and spread it out, so it is no longer a drop which could have stuck the ants, and instead it just covers some surface areas for the ants to lick on. They can also enjoy sugar. It is safer than honey if you don't want them get stuck again.

Have you decided to give it another shot?

Oh I know this now! I had the honey accident years ago when I was a child. Now that I have a child of my own though I'd love to give an ant farm another try so that he could experience it as well.