I have a small balcony with my flat, and I have a small herb "garden", with a few pots of herbs.
I noticed the other day that some ants were running around among my herbs.
It immediately clicked- these must be the culprits for the aphids on my mint plant last year!
They just stick some aphids to the mint plant, and then keeping them as dairy cattle.
But where are these guys living?
Since my "big" herb planter has a hydration system, I actually think this might be where they reside.
So what to do?
I have no motivation of digging my freshly planted herbs up again, and I also do not want to poison these girls, not after I recently rediscovered my love for them.
To be honest- who actually cares if some ants put some aphids on my mint plant? Mint grows like weed anyways, and while the plant looked very bad last autumn, it has sprouted again this spring. Mint is pretty indestructible. So do I want to kill a while colony just to protect a mint plant?
I have just finished reading "Tales from the Ant World" and this is what Edward O. Wilson has to say on the topic:
Wise words.
So yes, I decided to change tactics.
I hereby lay claim to a small colony of Lasius niger living on my balcony.
I just put out some feeders.
On offer are:
Pollen grains, organic honey, banana slurry, a small piece of meat and a small bottle filled with sugar water.
After 1 hour, the scouts had found the feeding area and had recruited their sisters.
They accepted the offering.
I am curious how this will develop.
It certainly will be interesting to watch the colony and also, when the mint has grown in, watch to colony going about their dairy ranching business.
And here you see a tiny black butt sticking out the sugar water bottle:
I think I will also put out a small test tube filled with water, like I did with all my indoor colonies, just to also provide a constant source of fresh water (my balcony faces south, so it can get quite hot).
Bonus: I do not have to take care of finding space for hibernation in winter, since the "living space" of these ants is already sitting outside and it actually seems to work that they survive a German winter there.
Edited by Ernteameise, May 8 2023 - 8:09 AM.