How to farm ants? A detailed explanation of methods and technical key points
Everyone must be very familiar with ants. There are very many species of ants, more than 10,000, and in China alone there are nearly 700 species of ants. Ants are the most numerous and most common insects on Earth, and ant farming has gradually become a farming project today. Ants are mainly farmed to be used as fertilizer for various crops, and their nutritional value is very high. Some species can also be eaten and can treat rheumatism and bone pain, prevent and treat hepatitis B, and so on. Today, the editor brings you ant farming methods. Let's take a look!
1. Site selection
Ants are a kind of nesting insect, and a single nest contains a very large number of them. However, the establishment of an ant nest has certain requirements for the environment. Whether farmed indoors or outdoors, there must be sufficient light, and other things must not be placed there to prevent peculiar smells. Ants are very sensitive to peculiar smells. Once there is even a slight peculiar smell, it may cause ants to die in batches. Moreover, the nest must be built in a dry place. Everyone knows that ants have very small bodies, and even a little bit of water will scatter the ant colony. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the area around the nest is dry and free of water.
2. Preparation of facilities
After choosing the farming site, the preparatory work for farming facilities must be done well. First, use plastic film and other seamless materials around the site to build a water trough, control the size of the water trough well, and ensure that the water trough has a certain slope. This can prevent ants from falling into the water trough and dying while drinking. The water trough also needs a water change hole. Use bamboo or wooden sticks and so on to build frames on the water trough and arrange them into a track shape. Control the distance between each frame well, then put an appropriate amount of humus sandy soil at the bottom to ensure that the ants can drink water normally.
3. Making the rearing box
For the rearing box, boxes such as shoe boxes, food boxes, or clothing boxes can be used, and the size of each rearing box should be controlled according to the farming quantity. Put an appropriate amount of Masson pine into the rearing box, because Masson pine is the most common material used by wild ants to make nests. Some crop straw can also be put in. The plant straw must be dried in the sun before being put in, to prevent rotting and posing a threat to the growth of the ants. Pay attention to the tightness of the material; it must not be too tight, otherwise it will be difficult for the ants to carry it and make nests. Then seal the rearing box, leaving only an exit. Control the distance between each rearing box well to prevent fighting.
4. Feeding management
Ants have a very broad diet and eat almost anything, but they mainly feed on sweet and fragrant foods. The amount ants eat is just like their bodies, very small. On average, each ant eats less than 0.1 mg per day, though this also depends on the species and body size. Ants are basically fed about once every 4 days. When feeding, place the food dish on top of the rearing box. Each feeding amount must ensure that it can all be eaten up, otherwise the leftover food is likely to spoil. Change the types of food appropriately. If ants eat one kind of food for a long time, they will become averse to eating it, and in the end they would rather starve to death than eat it.
The above is a brief introduction to ant farming methods. Ant farming is not very widespread now, and its market can almost be ignored. So the editor actually does not recommend farming them, but if a grower wants to farm ants to use as fertilizer, that is still possible, because the nutritional value of thousands upon thousands of ants should not be underestimated. Although farming ants is simple, everyone must absolutely not try it rashly, because the specific edible value of ants still has no clear direction, and I hope everyone will not try blindly.