6 replies to this topic

[Koafid]

Hi,
to feed ants sugars in formicarium, I filled test tube with honey-water in 1:1 ratio, with cotton plug as I did with water in all test tubes, but the honey is leaking. Is that caused by too much water, or not enough cotton, or honey is not usable in this way and I need to replace it with sugar water? thanks.

[ANTdrew]

Honey has naturally occurring yeasts in it. Once it is mixed with water, these yeasts will ferment the honey into alcohol. In the process, they release large amounts of CO2, which is what is forcing the honey to leak out.

[The_Gaming-gate]

You should use sugar water, alcohols in the honey water will kill the ants.

[Koafid]

Honey has naturally occurring yeasts in it. Once it is mixed with water, these yeasts will ferment the honey into alcohol. In the process, they release large amounts of CO2, which is what is forcing the honey to leak out.

cool, that means that clear honey is the way? is that usable? or just sugar water?

[ANTdrew]

Sugar water can also ferment into alcohol, though it may last a bit longer. Hummingbird nectar with preservative in it or byFormica Sunburst nectar will not ferment.

[The_Gaming-gate]

I’d assume honey is too thick to be accessible via cotton for an ant-colony, at least not as well as other things. Put honey in foil trays.

[dspdrew]

Use hummingbird nectar. It's cheap and has preservatives. I get the clear stuff so I can color it whatever color I want.