Ants marching into spotlight as hobby of ant-keeping rises in popularity

They are tiny insects that are often overlooked or stepped on, but ants are marching not only into people’s backyards, but also their homes, as the popularity of ant-keeping rises in Canada.

“It’s one of the fastest growing hobbies in the world,” said Zachary Liu, owner of Canada Ant Colony, a business that sells ant farms, colonies and supplies.

Liu says ant-keeping is very popular in Europe and Asia and in the last decade or so, more and more enthusiasts in Canada are turning parts of their homes into bustling ant farms.

“What I would estimate in Canada as a whole is somewhere around 20,000 or 30,000, or maybe I would guess it’s a little bit larger than that,” Liu said.

Popular YouTube channels like AntsCanada that features countless high production videos of ant colonies and ant-keeping, have also contributed to the rise in popularity in the country.

James Wingert,13, was inspired by AntsCanada to start ant-keeping. He had a colony two years ago, but the small group of 20 worker ants didn’t make it. He’s now trying to grow another colony.

“I have four queens in test tubes, a queen with five workers and I have a queen and a setup I made by myself,” said Wingert.

James Wingert's ant farm. (CTV News)

All that’s needed to start an ant colony is a fertilized queen. Dr. James Glasier, an ecologist with the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo, says there are two ways to get them.

“You could dig up an ant nest that you know is there and hope you get a queen,” said Glasier.

The other way is to wait for the “nuptial flight” when the queen ants with wings mate, which usually happens from July to September.

“They remove their wings when they're mated and you collect them and you can put them in an actual ant farm,” Glasier explained.

“They'll start laying eggs and looking after themselves. And often you don't even have to feed them until they have workers.”

Startup costs are minimal, and the colonies don’t require too much effort to grow, but convenience isn’t the only appeal to ant keeping.

Liu says the complexity of the colonies is interesting.

“They have basic surgeries. They know how to make like some types of medicine. And they even have things like assassinations and slavery. And people don't realize how complex they are,” said Liu.

Wingert is also fascinated by the way the colonies operate. He hopes to grow his next colony to 1,000.

“It’s fun to look at their interactions and how their society works. Like each of them have their own goal that they’re trying to accomplish.”

Glasier supports ant-keeping and says it’s “very valuable to science and society” but cautions enthusiasts to source their insects in Canada to avoid bringing non-native species inside the border.

“They reduce the diversity of other ant species in the area. They just become so dominant that they take over resources and they’ll eat other ant colonies,” he said.