Above our tarantula goddess' Arachno Sanctorium,
lies an outworld containing one of the most extraordinary ant colonies, I've ever kept. A recovering township of yellow crazy ants
works fastidiously across the terrain of their outworld, a holding cell and quarantine of
an empire previously scorned. These are the survivors of the Golden Empire,
a once flourishing and powerful ant kingdom, numbering in the millions, but quickly reduced
to these few hundreds after a lethal mite plague struck them. These mites attached to the bodies of the
ants and sucked their blood, until they each died off one by one. But luckily, we were able to save a few of
them, with the help of some predatory mites harvested from great beetles, who eventually
eradicated the bad vampiric mites from the ants. So today, the Golden Empire, one of the oldest
and most cherished ant colonies on this channel takes its first joyful step upward, resilient
as ever, despite losing their once great numbers, and even their previous kingdom of old, as
we watch these amazing ants move into their brand new royal home, that I'm positive you
all will love building with me and watching the ants move into! But most important of all, wait until you
see, what shocking thing I discovered at the end of this video, once the Golden Empire
was all moved in! Welcome to the AntsCanada Ant Channel. Please SUBSCRIBE to my channel and hit the
bell icon. Welcome to the AC Family! Enjoy! These ants have no idea what's up ahead for
them. After having suffered such a tough past, The
Golden Empire truly deserves this new home I have planned. What's interesting to note is that each one
of these worker ants aside from the queen, was born within the past two or three months. You see, worker ants only live for two to
three months tops, while the queen ant who is hiding somewhere in this mass, and who
we'll see later on in this video, can live for decades, as much as thirty years in some
species, so isn't it crazy to think that these ants probably have no idea what hardship their
older sisters and colony had undergone in their not too distant history? Now take a look at this, AC Family. See all that brood? Those are piles of cocoons, eggs, and larvae
all above ground. The reason for this is because I've recently
watered their territories and in response they've transported their young above ground,
a response these tropical ants naturally do in the event of rain to avoid drowning from
tropical flooding. But usually the ants won't need to do this
if they nest in a place that is higher above ground or where flood water can't access. I felt bad seeing the ants have to constantly
bring their brood above ground every time I watered their territories. And look where else the ants have decided
to pile their brood during such times! Ants, eggs, larvae, and pupae are all jam
packed in their water test tube, their reservoir for fresh drinking water. They just love how the space is both humid
but also dry from the periodic floods. They've even gone and done the same thing
in their sugar water reservoir! And so AC Family, I felt the time had come
for the ants to have a more secure place to nest, where they wouldn't have to worry about
these routine floods and they could be certain they could live in peace. And now that the ants were completely parasitic
mite-free, healthy, and on their way to full recovery, quarantining them here in this outworld
was no longer necessary. It was time to give the Golden Empire their
first ant nesting space, since their great and necessary exodus from their previous home. I think you guys might love what I had planned
ahead, and furthermore what awesome thing the Golden Empire ended up revealing to us
once they all settled in! Behold! The future royal quarters of the Golden Empire. An AC Hybird Nest 2.0 Tetramorium, but with
some customizations. Let's have a look! I've laced the tunnels and rooms with gravel
and sphagnum moss to help the Golden Empire feel much more cozy once moved in. My intentions are for the ants to move these
bits of debris around as they please so they can totally customize their living space as
they feel fit. This debris will also be water absorbent and
help keep humidity levels up. These ants like humid nests and don't do well
in dry nests, so adding these moisture sponges will truly help the ants, the young, and the
queen feel truly comfortable. When moving ants into a formicarium, i.e.
an ant farm, it's important to know what conditions their species usually prefer. In the case of the Golden Empire, who are
yellow crazy ants, they like medium to high humidity in their nest and don't do well in
dry nests. Ants like most carpenter ants and harvester
ants, on the other hand, prefer medium to drier nests. I think the Golden Empire will really like
this space! By the way, for those wondering, this here
is the Tetramorium version of the AC Hybrid Nest, inspired by Tetramorium nests, that
is, the nests of pavement ant, but can be used for any species of ant that fits. I think I'll add a bit more sphagnum moss
bits... and I'll also add some piles of coconut fiber, which are highly water absorbent and
don't rot easily. This will also help keep humidity levels up,
and they'll also likely use this coconut fiber to bury and close off any rooms they decide
to store their waste, rooms that get moldy, or choose as the colony bathroom area. And just like that interior decorating done! The next step was to glue on the glass pane
that will enclose this entire nest space, so to do that, I just use Elmer's School glue,
non-toxic to ants and easy to use. You don't need to glue the glass on, for easy
removal and cleaning later, but here in the tropics, we have to worry about tiny wild
ants like pharaoh ants and ghost ants which are small enough to fit under the glass and
totally invade this nest, plus we don't want another foreign parasitic mite episode, so
I'm gluing this bad boy! And on goes the pane of glass, and voila! Done! I'll place the cover on to keep the space
nice and dark and give the nest 24 hrs for the glue to dry. In the lower hydration tub I've decided to
use sphagnum moss to keep the nest nice and humid. I find this stuff to be highly water absorbent,
chemical-free, easily replaceable, and a great way to keep Hybrid Nests hydrated. Now if you're new to Hybrid Nests, here's
how the ant farm technology works! This lower area of the nest here is the humid
end of the nest. The floor of this lower area is perforated
with tiny microholes which suck the water from the tub below via capillary action, and
deliver moisture and humidity to this lower nest region. The upper areas of the nest with unperforated
floors remain drier. It's important to have a moisture gradient
in an ant farm so the ants can hydroregulate and choose which areas to keep what. They'll be adjusting brood locations, garbage
and bathroom areas, queen quarters, and food storage according to moisture needs. With this Hybrid Nest, I'll probably only
need to water the nest about once a week, by pouring water into this tub area. The Sphagnum moss inside will absorb the water
and deliver it upwards into the nest! Several years ago, in the Golden Empire's
very beginnings, they lived in an earlier version of a Hybrid Nest, so I can't wait
to see them move in here for nostalgic feels! Are you guys excited, too? Building ant homes like this is one of my
favourite things to do and so is moving ants in! It was finally time to give the Golden Empire
their new, well-deserved home! It was the next evening, and the creatures
of the Ant Room were winding down or winding up for the night. Our new vampire crabs could sense something
was up, and they were right, for above their crab island Vampiron, sat the Golden Empire's
outworld. The Golden Empire was restless in their enclosure,
for they could feel something was slightly different tonight. More about that in a bit, but meanwhile the
Golden Empire's new home lay just below waiting and ready to be populated. The glue had fully dried now and nest previously
hydrated. Now AC Family, here was the plan. The AC Outworld has been situated atop Vampiron's
light fixture. This LED light fixture is currently set on
blue light. It can be set on blue or full blast in full
spectrum. My plan is to use heat to encourage the ants
to move out of this set up and into the new nest. The blue light has begun the warming process. It's not hot, but just a bit warm to get the
ants to start feeling "antsy"... Hehe. Sorry, I just had to! But once this LED is turned on full-blast
it will start to get quite warm and the ants will begin to look for a new cooler place
to nest. Now see this water test tube here? I'll be disconnecting it and place a long
tube which will run down to this hole here for entrance into the nest. And in case you were wondering what this second
hole is for, that's just for a heating cable for those living in places with cold weather
needing to heat their ants or ants kept in an air-conditioned room. We won't be using this. As for this hole, I'll be removing the plug
and placing the ants' water test tube in its place. The plug will be placed here for now. Here was the tube that would be the bridge
to their new lavish lair below! Alright, AC Family all was set! Are you ready to move the Golden Empire in? I know I am! Let's do this! I plugged the tube into the nest hole, and
now to remove this test tube. I carefully slid it off and quickly secured
the tube in its spot. Thankfully, only one ant managed to jump out
during the swap, but I caught it and placed it back into the outworld. Instantly the ants began to make their way
down the tube and into the nest. Haha! Oh look how excited they are finding this
new strange space. I just love this part! And as planned, in goes the removed water
test tube into this hole. Alright and now to turn on the LED light to
full blast, and we're done! Now let's watch the ants as they move in to
the new home! Message of the new territories spread quickly
to members of the colony, causing inquiring ants to wander curiously down into the foreign
lands to check out the hype. Ants were also returning to the outworld to
spread the word that indeed there was a new place the colony might like to explore further. How I loved watching the ants explore the
tunnels of the new nest! As for the ants stationed in the water test
tube, they too had begun to explore the new home and had by now met up with ants coming
in from the main colony. The ants delighted as they explored every
little corner of the nest! It wasn't long before it was clear that the
ants were now completely hyped about this rumored space that was a good candidate for
habitation, a place that was cooler, moist, comfortable and large. The ants carried these messages using pheromones,
biochemicals produced by their body, seeing as ants can't communicate through voice. They also vibrated their bodies to excite
nearby ants. You could almost hear the ants conversing. Let's see what all the hype is about. OMG, the rumors are true! It is an awesome place. I bet the space is still unsafe for the queen
and brood! It was important that the new potential space
be verified and quality checked by many ants before they decide to make an official move
just in case the new space turns out to be unfit or unsafe for any reason. This approval process was absolutely necessary
because imagine if they moved in and this space turned out to be an ant-eater's den
or an ant-eating frog's hangout or even another ant colony's nest? I could tell the ants still hadn't felt the
nest to be fit for habitation because the ants in the water test tube were still holding
the brood in place. We will know the ants have given their stamp
of approval once they start transporting the brood inside, but I was confident the time
would come when they fall in love with the territories. And to help speed this process up, it was
time to place the cover on top. Ants naturally love darkness in their nests,
so this would help deem the space nest-able! The crabs watched curiously from the shores
of Vampiron as the Golden Empire traveled to and from the Hybrid Nest delivering messages
and key geographical mapping info. The ants continued to vibrate their bodies
more and more and were probably releasing more approval pheromones to get all inquiring
ants excited so they could let the rest of the colony know that they should start a move. Major colony decisions are democratic in nature
and require campaigning, and look! It looks like the campaigning is working! One ant has decided to carry in a mature larva! But it looks like she's keeping the larva
here for now. It seems she isn't 100% convinced that the
newly chartered lands below are fit for the brood to be stored. I watched as she continued to wait for more
convincing information and perhaps a greater number of ants to give their stamps of approval. What you're witnessing here AC Family, is
ant democracy at work! The crabs lost interest in this ant highway
pretty fast. As the outworld continued to heat up, ants
began to look for new cooler places to transport their brood. Ants in the sugar test tube were also showing
signs of agitation due to the heat. I knew it wouldn't be long now until the ants
began their move... or at least that's what I thought! Check out what I saw a few hours later. Returning to the nest, I was expecting to
see a full out emmigration operation under way. But instead, I saw this. A heated nest and tonnes of ants and brood
filling the tube. Looks like the ants had decided to live in
the tube for now. I bet the ants were still in the process of
approving the nest space. This generation of Golden Empire worker ants
were definitely picky! They clutched their brood and stationed themselves
in place as the approval process continued. They seemed happy in the tube for now, so
I was in no rush to force them to emmigrate into the nest we made for them. In cases like this, you want the ants to decide
on their own that a nest given to them is fit to live in. The ants know best when it is time for them
to set up shop. Perhaps the nest was too moist at the moment,
perhaps they just were still foreign to plastic walls? But then, what I spotted next made me hopeful. Looking into the water test tube, I could
tell a lot of the brood had been moved in. This meant, AC Family, that the ants had begun
to call at least parts of the Hybrid Nest home! After living safely in this outworld for so
long, I don't blame them for being attached to the lands. If this was the case, I didn't want to disturb
the ants at all, so instead of peeking into the Hybrid Nest, I decided to give the ants
their privacy and go to bed. And AC Family, waking up the next morning,
I checked up on the ants and you won't believe what I saw. An almost empty outworld, and an almost empty
tube. Moving downwards towards the nest, I came
to a grouping of ants and brood, woah, a very large grouping of ants and brood! But are you guys seeing what I'm seeing? Look! There! By the nest entrance stood the royal queen! And even more awesome nearby was, OMG another
queen! The quarantined colony had two queens! The reason this double queen revelation was
amazing news is because if you recall, this salvation operation from the mites, involved
quarantining one healthy queen and reintroducing her into the collected quarantined colony. We never really knew if there were other queens
in this collected colony, but we at least knew there was one healthy egg-laying queen
and that was all we needed to keep the colony going. But I guess we were lucky and the Golden Empire
had two queens. But hold on. It turns out there was more, AC Family! I opened to the Hybrid Nest to peek inside
and check out what I saw! Tonnes of ants and brood everywhere! The ants scurried about and hung out at different
sections of the nest, some carrying brood to and from various locations. It was so satisfying to see how the Golden
Empire had transformed this space into their new home! AC Family, it was clear the Golden Empire
loved it! They really, really loved it! And check out what else I spotted! Some ants had eclosed emerging from their
cocoons overnight as adult ants. See that light-coloured ant there? This new nest was their first experience of
life as adult ants. Can you imagine what this ant might be thinking
right now? Hey, so this was why you guys were rattling
me around all night! And as I looked around further, the biggest
shock of all! There! See her?! That large gaster? It's a third queen huddled under all that
chaos! The Golden Empire had officially attained
3 healthy, egg-laying queens! But AC Family, that's not all! A fourth queen spotted at this corner, with
workers carrying her newly laid eggs! Alright! But AC Family, that's again not all! Could it be? Yes, a fifth queen there surrounded by workers
tending to her and plucking every egg she laid. I wondered if there were more queens huddled
somewhere in this darkness but either way judging from all the eggs the workers were
collecting, it was clear the Golden Empire was well on their road to recovery, and I
knew in my heart that they'd once again see the massive numbers they once knew. The initial Golden Empire had 7 queens, but
now we knew for sure they had at least 5 of those queens alive and laying. These queens were the originals, who have
seen the rise and fall and rise again of their supercolony. And look what else I spotted, here at this
corner! A male alate! The Golden Empire was producing reproductives! This was something I've never yet seen the
Golden Empire do so for sure this was a good sign of continued health, growth, and prosperity
to come! This entire sight and moment was truly magical
and moving for me, because it showed me first hand how persistent nature can be at surviving. Regardless of what hardships befell the Golden
Empire, regardless of what life threw at them, and in their past there have been many, these
ants have continued to thrive and fight on! It was this very display of vitality and vigor
in the face hardship, hostility, and seeming hopelessness that reminded me how all life
on Earth was made possible. I felt truly honoured to be able to witness
the journey these ants have been on with our own eyes, and to experience this moment of
the Golden Empire moving into this new home with you guys! They were an inspiration to keep fighting,
that anything was possible, and that anyone or anything could once again rise triumphantly
like a golden phoenix, even a colony of little ants. By night, I had fixed and completed the Golden
Empire's set up. I fixed their outworld to look much more naturalistic,
to be their new outdoor living area where I'd be placing the food. The water test tube would continue to provide
the colony with fresh water, and the sugar test tube with the liquid carbs needed to
power the colony. And as is AC tradition, I gave them a house
warming gift of roach meat to welcome them home. We will continue to expand this setup as the
colony grows, and I look forward to giving them an absolutely massive kingdom in the
future. For now the Golden Empire was going to live
comfortably in their beautiful yet simple ant farm set up between the Arachno Sanctorium
and Vampiron. Long live the Golden Empire! Alright, AC Family, what do you think? Are you guys as happy as I am that the Golden
Empire is well on their way to recovery? Amazing to find out there are at least five
queens, though right? What a great surprise! There is still much more ahead in the Antiverse,
though, with the other ant kingdoms, so guys if you're not subscribed yet, what are you
waiting for? Smash that SUBSCRIBE button and BELL ICON
now so you don't miss out in the real life drama of the inhabitants of the Ant Room. And don't forget to hit the LIKE button every
single time, including now! It would really help a lot! Speaking of ants, it's officially nuptial
flight season in the Northern Hemisphere, and a lot of you are catching queen ants now,
and in case you didn't know, we've got all the top of the line ant keeping gear for you
ant keepers at all levels from beginner to advanced, as well as a tonne of new and exciting
products for the ant keeping community not available anywhere else, so head on over to
AntsCanada.com, and browse through our shop. We ship worldwide, and offer full email support
if you need us. We also have ant colonies with a queen available
in most regions so go check us out and pick up your ant farm kit and ant gear today! If you're new to the channel, and want to
catch up on all your AntsCanada Lore, feel free to binge watch this complete story line
playlist here, which traces the origins of all the ant colonies of the ant room, so you
can follow their stories and better appreciate how these ant kingdoms came to be, and why
we love them so much! AC Inner Colony, I have left a hidden cookie
for you here, if you'd like to watch extended play footage of the Golden Empire moving in
to their new home all to the sounds of relaxing music. And now it's time for the AC Question of the
Week! Last week we asked: Name one of the materials used
to build the island of Vampiron. There were several correct answers, but congratulations
to KittyKat11 who correctly answered: Filter Foam. Congratulations, KittyKat11, you just won
a free e-book handbook from our shop! In this week's AC Question of the Week, we
ask: What did we use to
move the Golden Empire into the new Hybrid Nest? Leave your answer in the comments section
and you could also win a free e-book handbook from our shop! Hope you can subscribe to the channel as we
upload every Saturday at 8AM EST. Please remember to LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE, and
SUBSCRIBE if you enjoyed this video to help us keep making more. It's ant love forever!
