I need your help! My 15 week old fire ant colony (The Phoenix Empire) decided to do something pretty unexpected this week. After some investigation, I realized the ant colony needed something from us, which we deliberate on in this episode. Hope you guys can help the ants and I out with your valuable input. Hope you enjoy this week’s action-packed episode!

I NEED YOUR HELP! MY FIRE ANTS ARE LEAVING

Guys, I need your help!

My 15-week-old fire ant colony, who we call the Phoenix Empire, strangely decided to pick up and start moving out of their ant nest today.

Look at them! They’re completely on a mission!

Something has signaled for the ants to initiate a move, and I’ll tell you what I suspect that is, as well as where they’re actually moving to. But guys, afterward, I’ll be needing your help!

So come with me into the City of Ashes, and let’s help out our fire ant friends, here on the AntsCanada Ant Channel.

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Welcome to the AC Family!

Fire Ant Swarm

Enjoy!

Alright guys, today I’ll be explaining why I feel our fire ants are moving out and where they’re moving to, but once again, I’ll be needing your help today at the end of the video once I’ve explained everything, so please kindly hear me out and get your voting fingers ready!

Alright, so I found out about the Phoenix Empire moving as I was looking at their newly added hunting grounds, created in an AC Outworld, which we gave them in their last video.

Before we go any further, AC Council, it’s time for our first vote!

These hunting grounds need a name.

Please take a quick moment to vote here for a name for this vast plot of Phoenix Empire real estate, based on name suggestions you guys gave in their last video.

Thank you, AC Council, for your input!

So, minutes before I caught the ants picking up and moving, I caught sight of this.

A commotion!

Like a huge pride of lionesses ravaging a carcass, the Phoenix Empire was busy feasting on a piece of superworm.

Whoa!

What a sight!

Look at how many there are now!

Now, this is what I call a fire ant swarm!

Judging from this swarm size, I estimate the colony is about twice the size they were since we saw them last two weeks ago.

I also see that the colony has been drinking a lot of water and sugar water to take back to the nest—sure signs the colony is massive!

I told myself I would peek into the nest to verify just how big the colony was, but before I could get to that, I couldn’t help but notice something amazing that the ants had done.

Have a look!

New Cemetery

Do you guys know what this strange mound here is?

This is the Phoenix Empire’s new cemetery, full of dead ants!

It was situated in a spot furthest from both tubes, but what was amazing about this was that they used coco fiber to bury the corpses.

This was amazing to me because I did not use coco fiber in this outworld at all, which meant the ants had to carry the coco fiber grain by grain through the tubes all the way from the nest.

I wonder why they wouldn’t just use surrounding dirt to bury their dead.

What a strange and interesting fire ant custom, right guys?

Equally as weird, they’ve even chosen to bring grains of gravel from their hunting grounds to pile into the tubes.

Anyway, another neat thing that caught my eye was springtails hanging around the cemetery.

This was awesome!

Springtails were part of the team of beneficial soil creatures we added to these hunting grounds for the purposes of cleanup, and I was happy these springtails were doing their job now—eating up the dead ant bodies and molds growing from the corpses.

I also knew the poop from these springtails was wonderfully fertilizing the plants!

Take a look at those towering basil trees!

I know these basil plants have been loving our springtail and soil creature poop because they’ve even grown taller than the basil from my garden, which was planted at the same time.

Go soil creatures!

And lo and behold, AC Family, it seems the soil creatures have found their way through the tubes and managed to locate the Phoenix Empire’s royal nest—the place you guys named The Fire Fortress.

With the number of springtails seen on the surface of their ant hill, I was certain there must be a lot of ant activity going on inside the nest!

Let’s have a peek at the colony!

The Colony

I removed the red film, and what I saw shocked me.

Tons of brood rooms, chambers, tunnels, and busy ants.

Wow!

Isn’t that awesome, guys?

Have a look!

The tunnel work wrapped right around the Ant Tower!

It was a magical sight to see how the ants had made this Fire Fortress home.

But then, this is where I noticed something weird.

In one of the rooms was a commotion.

Why was this ant in such a rush, I wondered?

I then began to notice the commotion was actually happening throughout the entire nest.

And that’s when I noticed it.

Hey!

They’re moving out the brood.

Workers were seen rushing brood out into the tubes.

Oh no!

Were they relocating the colony into the outworld?

I followed where the brood transport trail was going.

They seemed to be in such a crazy rush about it, too!

Look at them.

And that’s when I saw it!

Aha!

They were moving the brood into a hollow in one of the driftwood pieces in the hunting grounds!

How peculiar!

So after watching the ants do this for a few minutes, I came to the conclusion that the Phoenix Empire had initiated a move as a strategic measure.

They were quite smart about it, too!

Get this!

I believe the ants needed more space to nest to accommodate their growing brood pile and colony, so the best place the ants found was this dry wood hollow.

They weren’t really touching the youngest of the brood but mostly moving mature larvae and pupae, which can tolerate drier conditions.

The ants were essentially setting up a satellite nest here in their outworld.

Now, I’m okay with the Phoenix Empire establishing a satellite nest in their outworld, but I’d prefer the ants live in a formicarium, which is easier to hydrate properly and where I can actually see the ants better.

And so, AC Family, this is the part where I need your help!

The Nest Extension

It’s time to give this colony a nest extension so they can set up a satellite nest that they clearly need at this point.

So, should we give the Phoenix Empire another AC Ant Tower Small, or maybe an AC Hybrid Nest Mini, which was one of the options from before we introduced the Fire Fortress to them?

Personally, I would love the Hybrid Nest Mini for the colony because, who knows, maybe we can see the Phoenix Empire’s queen again—the Ember Empress, who I miss dearly.

Some of the queens of the Golden Empire rather like living in their Hybrid Nest, even if they also inhabit the Ant Tower.

On the other hand, digging and moving dirt around is something the colony seems to love, so another AC Ant Tower might be appreciated by the ants as well.

So guys, please take a moment to vote here for what you think the Phoenix Empire’s next nest extension should be.

I trust you guys will help me make a good choice, as you guys have never been wrong.

Thank you, AC Council, once again for your input and help!