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DIY Ant Farms

Ants are known for their incredible efficiency, extreme strength and persistent organization. Their colonies are tightly run and each ant lives to fulfill its job, which in turn supports the queen and keeps the colony going. Building your own ant farm can be a fun activity, science project or hobby.

Things You'll Need

One large glass jar
One smaller glass jar with lid
Shovel
Small bucket or container
Sand and dirt
Rubber band
Cheesecloth
Tape
1 sheet construction paper
Cotton ball
Pieces of fruit or honey-drizzled bread

Instructions

- 1
  Place the small glass jar inside the larger one. The small jar takes up space within the large one and will push the sand to the sides of the glass. This way you can see the tunnels the ants will build against the glass.
- 2
  Dig up an ant colony from your backyard with the shovel. Find a colony with many visible ants and dig up as many of them as you can. Place them all in the small bucket or container that you have brought with you. Try to find the queen, she will be the largest ant and she will have wings.
- 3
  Place the ant colony you dug up into the area inside the large jar that is not occupied by the smaller jar.
- 4
  Fill the rest of the large jar up with sand and garden soil.
- 5
  Secure the cheesecloth on top of the large jar with the rubber band so the ants cannot get out but are ensured air.
- 6
  Wrap the construction paper around the large jar and secure it with tape. Ants dig underground and will not dig near the glass if it is too light out. The construction paper is there to darken their colony and it can be removed when you want to observe the ants and their tunnels.
- 7
  Feed the ants every three days with pieces of fruit or bread drizzled with honey. Make sure they have water by placing a water soaked cotton ball in the jar once a week.

Insects & Science