Honeypot Ant Care Sheet
Honeypot ants (Myrmecocystus) are the species people come to ant keeping for, and the one most often lost in the first winter. This is the care we give our own colonies, from a USDA-licensed breeder. Nothing here is theory.
What temperature do honeypot ants need?
One warm end at 82-85°F, the other end at or near room temperature. It must be a gradient across the setup, never the whole nest heated, so the colony can move brood to the temperature it needs.
Use a heat cable. Only a heat cable. Not a heat mat, not a lamp, not a windowsill. Mats and lamps heat too broadly, which destroys the gradient, and they dry the nest out or cook it.
Below 80°F at the warm end, growth stalls. Lack of supplemental heat is the quietest colony-killer we see in beginners.
Heat is for the brood, not the ants. If your colony moves away from the cable, that is usually correct behaviour - they are placing brood where it develops best. Watch it, but do not chase them around with the cable.
How do I keep the humidity right?
Fill the test tube reservoirs with water and plug each with a PVA sponge. That is your humidity for 90 days or more, with no nest maintenance in between.
PVA over cotton, every time: cotton grows mould over the weeks a founding tube sits undisturbed, and mould is a leading killer of young colonies. PVA holds water just as well and resists it. Keep the water end cooler than the warm end so it does not dry out.
What do honeypot ants eat?
Carbohydrates are their primary food and stay available at all times. Red Ant Drank through a wet cotton or PVA wick - never an open pool, because they drown in it.
For protein, offer fresh killed feeder insects only. Never frozen, never protein gel. Store-bought crickets are fine.
Do not feed honey, fruit, dog food or table scraps. Some are unsafe, the rest grow mould and make far more work for you.
If they seem to be ignoring the Red Ant Drank, they almost certainly are not. A colony genuinely deprived of carbohydrates shows many dead workers fast.
What are repletes, and how do I get them?
Repletes are the workers the colony fills with liquid food until their gasters swell into translucent amber spheres. They are living storage - the colony feeds itself from them in lean periods.
You get them by feeding a colony well and consistently over time. There is no trick and no shortcut. A young colony will not produce them; a well-fed maturing one will.
How fast should my honeypot colony grow?
A new batch of workers every 45-60 days is the benchmark for a young colony. If that is not happening, something in heat, humidity or protein is off - get in touch and we will work through it with you.
"Nothing is happening" is usually not a problem. With very few workers, only one or two hold the forager job, so most of the colony stays in the nest where you cannot see it.
Is my colony dying, or is it just winter?
Slowing down is normal. Not moving is not, if you are above 55°F.
The reliable test: ants in diapause move slowly when disturbed. Dead ants curl up and show no movement at all, even lifted with featherweight forceps.
There is mould in the tube. What do I do?
Do not panic - ants are far hardier than people expect. Set up a fresh test tube and do a normal transfer. If the colony is already in one of our nests, swap the bad tube for a freshly set up one and leave the old tube in the outworld until it empties over a few days.
Common mistakes that kill honeypot colonies
- Heating the whole nest instead of one end
- A heat mat or lamp instead of a cable
- Letting the warm end sit below 80°F
- Cotton plugs left to mould through the founding stage
- Frozen feeders or protein gel
- Combining two colonies, or letting two share an outworld - this does not work safely
- Handling them. Ants are not meant to be held.
Where can honeypot ants be shipped?
Live ant shipping is restricted by state, and the approved list is per species. Each listing shows exactly which states that species can ship to - check the listing before ordering. We are a USDA-licensed breeder and we do not ship outside what we are permitted to.
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Questions about your setup? Email antopiausa@gmail.com - we would rather answer early than replace a colony later.