Hey guys!
I'm new to formiculture (the hobby and the site), but I've always thought having an ant farm would be AWESOME. Just a couple days ago I realized that I'm an adult that can do things like get an ant farm. Within minutes I was deciding what commercial farm would be best, then trying to find a place here in Canada that would sell me some worker ants.
I found AntsCanada and my ignorance was dispelled.
I plan to make my own formicarium - probably from grout - and catch my own queen locally. Sadly, that might not happen for almost a full year, since I'm moving in a couple months and I'm not sure how good it would be to move a fresh colony. Besides! I don't even know what species I'll get - can't tell them apart yet - and I want to make sure I provide them the best environment that I possibly can - meaning tunnels designed to suit their natural inclinations.
There's one thing I'm starting to learn as I learn more about ants: I am incredibly fascinated with their social cues and systems. Wow, complicated! It's absolutely amazing! I'm so excited to start my own formicarium and watch how the colony grows and changes. God, ants. 
I love them so much that I'm starting to wonder if maybe I can have a job with them...I do know of a bug zoo near where I'm moving. Maybe they'll take me...
Also, I've heard it's a good idea to catch more than one queen during their nuptial flights (just in case they're infertile, diseased, etc) but I keep wondering - what do you do with the fertile queens you don't want to keep? I only want to start with one colony, after all. I don't want to bite off more than I can chew - don't need to take the whole meal worm into the nest. Ha!
Oh, and does anyone know what species are most common on Vancouver Island, BC? I've seen little reddish ones, large brown/black ones... Not that that's helpful! 
Any tips for identifying species 'in the field'?
Anyway, thanks for this website, guys, I'm so excited to be here!
Franz
