11 replies to this topic

[TooManyAnts]

I was wondering what was the nutritional value of honey for ants. On this website/forum i notice people say that honey is better for ants nutritionally, but why? Can someone explain what exactly does honey have in it, that is better than just sugar water?

Edited by TooManyAnts, April 19 2017 - 4:20 PM.

[Serafine]

"Hello Pandora, this box looks shiny you don't mind if I open it?"

[Kevin]

Actually, it is the other way around. White sugar and honey actually contain little nutritional value, ant have been scientifically proven several times that they widely prefer sucrose over fructose (aka sugar over honey).

[TooManyAnts]

Actually, it is the other way around. White sugar and honey actually contain little nutritional value, ant have been scientifically proven several times that they widely prefer sucrose over fructose (aka sugar over honey).

So, should i instead feed my ants honey or sugar? Or it doesn't matter / they provide energy just the same?

[Antsinmycloset]

A lot of people use honey because a lot of people recommend it.

Honey does have the hypothetical benefit of possessing various trace vitamins and minerals, but it's unclear if these actually provide any sort of tangible benefit. Some add a tiny dash of sea salt to their sugar water to achieve a similar injection of minerals/electrolytes. It seems reasonable to suggest either of these would do more good than harm, but a healthy colony should be capable of getting all this from their protein sources.

As Kevin said, studies done on quite a few species of ants show a clear majority prefer sucrose. That said, it's worth noting the enzyme(s) which breaks down sucrose in ants produces fructose and glucose. Honey is primarily composed by two types of sugars, drum roll please, fructose and glucose. There's a bit more fructose than glucose, but the ratio is close enough to 1:1.

While there are plenty of studies showing ant preference, I've never heard of anything suggesting a colony does better when fed exclusively on one or the other. If you use honey, just make sure your poor little workers don't get stuck and die. They're like toddlers looking for a fork and an outlet sometimes.

For the ant species people are likely to keep, just make sure they have SOMETHING available and don't stress about it. Sugar water (sucrose) is cheap, though, and it stores very well in a squirt bottle. Honey water... doesn't. I like to give my founding queens a honey snack, but my colonies get nearly constant access to sugar water.

Edit: I know some people here have strong opinions on AntsCanada, but he provides constant sugar water with a weekly treat of unpasteurized honey. That might be a good compromise for you, if you can't make up your mind. Oh, and obligatory "honey could be tainted with something bad", though, unlike with pesticides on fruit, I've never heard of it happening.

Edited by Antsinmycloset, April 19 2017 - 9:27 PM.

[T.C.]

Offer both, then see which one they go for. Also, I recommend you try syrup. All my ants like it. Or you can mix all three like I have and they like that too. I have yet to try it, but I hear ByFormica Ant Nectar is well liked by all species.

Edited by T.C., April 19 2017 - 9:30 PM.

[Serafine]

My ants prefer Maple Syrup (which is mostly sucrose) and Sunburst (sucrose, however they seem to like it when the Sunburst has dried out a bit into some sort of more goo-like liquid).

[TooManyAnts]

Hmm, the reponses i've gotten so far are interesting! I'll try giving my ants a variety of sugar/energy sources then.

[Serafine]

Variety is always a good thing. Ants are as prone to nutrition deficiencies as we are when eating a one-sided diet.

[drtrmiller]

With all the nonsense and misinformation about this topic, I may sit down and make a video explanation within the next few weeks when I finally get some free time.

[Nathant2131]

With all the nonsense and misinformation about this topic, I may sit down and make a video explanation within the next few weeks when I finally get some free time.

Yesssss.

[Ozz]

Is anyone even able to give definitive proof from lab conditions or is all the info really just people's experiences and what they 'think' is happening?
I would love to hear the proof part, but the real world experiences are just as valuable imo.