So far, the ants in the ant farm I built are hanging out in the dirt above the tunnels I carved out of the wood. I'm not sure why they aren't going into the tunnels, but I think it's because the tunnels are exposed to light, and this species of ant prefers to stay hidden. However, I did notice some ants carrying some dirt around, so they might bring some dirt into the tunnels to make it more habitable for them. But I'm not sure.

In the meanwhile, if it turns out that they *really* don't want to go into the tunnels, I've created a new ant farm.



Instead of having a single large area, I'll have several small chambers connected by clear tubing. I don't have a lot of ants at the moment, so these chambers should be large enough to house them. Additionally, each chamber will be fitted with a connection tube so I can always add more chambers.



And here are the three chambers I've made so far, up close. I didn't need to get fancy with them - they're just areas for the ants to hang out. I'll probably build another chamber with some dirt in it. Not enough for them to hide in - I just want to see if they move it around the other chambers. If so, I'll keep adding dirt to the chamber and maybe they'll build something cool.







I just need to screw down some Plexiglas on these chambers and then move my ants over if I need to. If the ants end up using the tunnels in their current home, maybe I'll just connect these chambers to the big ant farm and use them for foraging areas.