![]() ![]() Some people believe that the cold weather makes ants disappear. Their yearly habits vary and their winter activities can change, but overall, ants will still be looking to get inside your home for food, warmth, and shelter. You won’t be dealing with 12,000 different species of ant this winter – but there are still more than 100 species of ant in Canada. And that’s only the ones that have been discovered. There are believed to be at least 12,000 different species of ants around the world. ![]() ![]() In this blog, we’re going to explain why they’re there in the first place, and what you can do to prevent them from turning up. There’s nothing worse than finding ants crawling around your kitchen floor. While their activities may slow down and they manage their energy levels more carefully, ant control is still a common problem even during winter. But ants crawling along your floor? Taking over your kitchen counters and pantry? That doesn’t sound like winter at all.ĭespite it being a common belief, ants don’t hibernate during winter. Christmas sweaters for those that celebrate the holiday, and lots of time spent indoors by a cozy fire. If your colony is in a nest, you should check on and refill their water every 2 weeks.There are plenty of winter stereotypes. Other ant species are never exposed to these freezing temperatures naturally, as they dig deeper before diapause and are insulated by the ground above them.ĭuring diapause, you should check on your colony at least once every 3 weeks if they are in a test tube, to ensure that they still have water, and have not experienced any floods or other issues. In captivity, ants do not have time to build up this antifreeze, so they must be kept above freezing temperatures during diapause. While temperatures in the wild may dip below freezing for periods of time, many ant species will prepare for this by building up a natural antifreeze as it gets colder over months. For those with ant colonies collected in warm regions like Florida and the Southwest, you may need to prop the door of your wine cooler open so that your colonies don’t get too cold, or even diapause them at room temperature.Īn important note for this method, DO NOT PLACE YOUR ANTS IN THE FREEZER, THIS WILL KILL THEM. If you are using a wine cooler, we recommend placing it on the highest temperature setting, however this is not mandatory. Make sure to leave some room for air in the box, since air is a great insulator!įinally, close your box and place it into your fridge/wine cooler. Then, place your colony’s test tube/nest into the box, and place the rest of your insulating material on top of and on the sides of your ant setup. After you have these, place a layer of insulating material on the bottom of the box, below where the ants will go. ![]() Next, you’ll need a small box with a lid, like a shoebox, and some sort of insulating material, such as paper towels or a hand towel. If they are running out of water, we recommend you move them into a new test tube prior to diapause. To diapause your ants using this method, first make sure your ants have enough water and a clean test tube/nest. The one we have found most useful at Buckeye Myrmecology is the Fridge/Wine Cooler Method. Over the years, many methods have been developed for putting captive ant colonies through diapause. ![]()
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