Heat cable — currently out of stock. The heat cable is printed on the box and is normally part of this kit. It is out of stock, so no heat cable ships with this kit right now. Our own cable is expected back in late September 2026, and the price of this kit is reduced while it is unavailable. If you want to run heat straight away, this is the cable we recommend: https://a.co/d/07at29R0
Not a toy ant farm. A real ant keeping starter system. This is the complete setup — the one you hand someone who is serious about keeping honeypots and does not want to piece together a rig from three different vendors. Everything in the box works together. Everything was chosen on purpose.
The hard part is already done. Your colony ships already living inside its nest tube. Push the tube through the capsule frame, pull the cotton, and the colony is in the nest section. No transfer. No coaxing a colony to move. No waiting days to find out whether they settle.
Set the outworld up and apply the Fluon barrier first — that is the part that takes real time. The colony step itself takes about five minutes.
About this species. This is our large variant Myrmecocystus mendax. You are buying an established colony, not a founding queen in a tube: 1 mated queen, 50-100 workers and 5-15 repletes.
The repletes. Repletes are living storage — workers fed until their abdomens swell into translucent amber, then held in the nest as the colony's pantry. Over the months you keep them, they fill and empty as the colony draws on them.
The nest. The capsule has a near-perfect success rate with honeypots, and we have colonies going into their fourth year in earlier prototype versions of this same design — older, less refined hardware than the one you are buying.
The chambers are pre-formed. The colony moves in and settles, choosing a chamber by temperature and humidity and rearranging brood through the day as conditions change. Watch for the queen settling, brood piles moving, workers clustering on the warm end and foragers usi
What's included — the nine items printed on your box:
Live Myrmecocystus mendax Colony — 1 Mated Queen · 50-100 Workers · 5-15 Repletes
Test Tube Capsule (Ventilated & Ready to Use) — this is the nest
Fluon PTFE Insect Barrier
Red Ant Drank (Carb Source)
Heat Cable (Low Wattage Included) — see the note at the top of this page
Pipette
Feeding Dish
AntopiaUSA Feeding Tweezers
Setup & Care Guide
Also in every kit, beyond the printed panel:
Outworld with a hardened sand floor
Double liquid feeder test tube setup — one drinking water, one Red Ant Drank (90 day supply of both)
4 test tubes (16 x 150 mm)
4 PVA sponges, blue or grey
1 blackout shield
10-20 live mealworms — about a 40 day supply for a young colony, less for a larger one
Connector vinyl tubing, 1/2" OD for the capsule
Feeding and water. Keep Red Ant Drank available at all times as the carb source. The double liquid feeder setup gives you one tube of drinking water and one of Red Ant Drank, and the pipette is what you top them up with — do not let either run dry. Protein is fresh killed feeder insects only, never frozen, never gel.
Heat. Honeypots want a gradient, not a warm room. Run a low wattage heat cable along one end so the warm end sits at 82-85°F and the far end stays at or near room temperature, and the colony will move its brood to the temperature it wants. Heat cable only — no mats, no lamps, no windowsills — and never heat the whole nest.
Approved shipping states. We ship live Myrmecocystus mendax to these states only: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah.
If the species you ordered cannot be legally shipped to your state, we may substitute a comparable species of equal or greater value that we are approved to ship to your location, at our discretion. If we do not have a suitable substitute available, your order will be canceled and refunded minus a 15% restocking fee.
Live arrival. Covered for 7 days from delivery. To qualify you must be present to receive the package and contact us within 15 minutes of the delivery notification with clear photos or video of any substantial issue. No signature confirmation is used, so tracking is your responsibility — a box left outside in heat or cold voids coverage.
Packaging. Heat packs, ice packs and an insulated box are always included in the shipping price.
Shipping. Live ants ship Monday through Wednesday only, a cadence chosen to keep colonies out of weekend transit. Orders placed after 7 PM Central on Wednesday ship the following Monday. In spring and summer the most time that should pass before your order starts its journey is 5-7 days; in the slower months it is typically 2-3 days.ng the tubing.
Heat cable — currently out of stock. The heat cable is printed on the box and is normally part of this kit. It is out of stock, so no heat cable ships with this kit right now. Our own cable is expected back in late September 2026, and the price of this kit is reduced while it is unavailable. If you want to run heat straight away, this is the cable we recommend: https://a.co/d/07at29R0
Not a toy ant farm. A real ant keeping starter system. This is the complete setup — the one you hand someone who is serious about keeping honeypots and does not want to piece together a rig from three different vendors. Everything in the box works together. Everything was chosen on purpose.
The hard part is already done. Your colony ships already living inside its nest tube. Push the tube through the capsule frame, pull the cotton, and the colony is in the nest section. No transfer. No coaxing a colony to move. No waiting days to find out whether they settle.
Set the outworld up and apply the Fluon barrier first — that is the part that takes real time. The colony step itself takes about five minutes.
About this species. This is our large variant Myrmecocystus mendax. You are buying an established colony, not a founding queen in a tube: 1 mated queen, 50-100 workers and 5-15 repletes.
The repletes. Repletes are living storage — workers fed until their abdomens swell into translucent amber, then held in the nest as the colony's pantry. Over the months you keep them, they fill and empty as the colony draws on them.
The nest. The capsule has a near-perfect success rate with honeypots, and we have colonies going into their fourth year in earlier prototype versions of this same design — older, less refined hardware than the one you are buying.
The chambers are pre-formed. The colony moves in and settles, choosing a chamber by temperature and humidity and rearranging brood through the day as conditions change. Watch for the queen settling, brood piles moving, workers clustering on the warm end and foragers usi
What's included — the nine items printed on your box:
Live Myrmecocystus mendax Colony — 1 Mated Queen · 50-100 Workers · 5-15 Repletes
Test Tube Capsule (Ventilated & Ready to Use) — this is the nest
Fluon PTFE Insect Barrier
Red Ant Drank (Carb Source)
Heat Cable (Low Wattage Included) — see the note at the top of this page
Pipette
Feeding Dish
AntopiaUSA Feeding Tweezers
Setup & Care Guide
Also in every kit, beyond the printed panel:
Outworld with a hardened sand floor
Double liquid feeder test tube setup — one drinking water, one Red Ant Drank (90 day supply of both)
4 test tubes (16 x 150 mm)
4 PVA sponges, blue or grey
1 blackout shield
10-20 live mealworms — about a 40 day supply for a young colony, less for a larger one
Connector vinyl tubing, 1/2" OD for the capsule
Feeding and water. Keep Red Ant Drank available at all times as the carb source. The double liquid feeder setup gives you one tube of drinking water and one of Red Ant Drank, and the pipette is what you top them up with — do not let either run dry. Protein is fresh killed feeder insects only, never frozen, never gel.
Heat. Honeypots want a gradient, not a warm room. Run a low wattage heat cable along one end so the warm end sits at 82-85°F and the far end stays at or near room temperature, and the colony will move its brood to the temperature it wants. Heat cable only — no mats, no lamps, no windowsills — and never heat the whole nest.
Approved shipping states. We ship live Myrmecocystus mendax to these states only: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah.
If the species you ordered cannot be legally shipped to your state, we may substitute a comparable species of equal or greater value that we are approved to ship to your location, at our discretion. If we do not have a suitable substitute available, your order will be canceled and refunded minus a 15% restocking fee.
Live arrival. Covered for 7 days from delivery. To qualify you must be present to receive the package and contact us within 15 minutes of the delivery notification with clear photos or video of any substantial issue. No signature confirmation is used, so tracking is your responsibility — a box left outside in heat or cold voids coverage.
Packaging. Heat packs, ice packs and an insulated box are always included in the shipping price.
Shipping. Live ants ship Monday through Wednesday only, a cadence chosen to keep colonies out of weekend transit. Orders placed after 7 PM Central on Wednesday ship the following Monday. In spring and summer the most time that should pass before your order starts its journey is 5-7 days; in the slower months it is typically 2-3 days.ng the tubing.
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