I was so enamored of the ant farm idea I went in search of ant farms tonight so I could get one myself. I want to watch these same creatures that infest my office from time-to-time in search of crumbs as they tunnel and build. I found a webcam of an actual ant farm and watched it for almost 30 minutes. http://www.stevesantfarm.com/ TOTALLY amazing…a little like watching grass grow, but only until you figure out what’s happening.

I noticed what I called the “slacker ants” to the right, that appeared to be watching the other ants. They may be sleeping. It’s hard to tell. Do ants sleep? Then there was this one big ant who must have found some caffeine among those grains of sand. He was busting it!! He was the most seriously industrious ant of the bunch. It’s like he was in a race or something. He of course was surrounded by “clueless ants.” They just sort of wander around, touch antennas and seem to be doing the usual thing their cubicle dwelling deadbeats in the human world do - i.e. not much.

It’s pretty fascinating really. In watching a variety of ant farm videos one narrator urged you not to mix different species of ants as “They’ll spend more time fighting than building.” How so like the human race!!

I’ve decided on a “Gel ant farm.” The gel contains all the nutrients water etc. needed for the ants to survive their life span of three months. And - you can plug in the ant farm so an LED light lights up the blue (or red) gel. I know there’s the concept of ants, but I think, like Dr. Cloud, I might learn something by watching them as well. So, today is the first day of the “Ant Farm Project.” I’ll write about it here and post photos once a week of the progress of my ants. Join me here as I see what I can learn about ants….