This was going to be an operation and a half. As much as I’ve been waiting for this major
moment to come, I always dread moving day for a massive ant colony into something as
intricate and complex as this floating mountains paludarium, you guys have called the Ember
Islands, especially when emigrating a massive colony of dangerously aggressive and stinging
fire ants, like our Phoenix Empire here, because so many things could go wrong. They could end up finding a point of escape,
they might prove incompatible and not thrive in their new environment, and worst of all,
the queen could get fatally injured during the transition, which would then mean the
colony would die. It was critical that during this move, I spotted
the great fire ant queen moving into the setup, so that I could be sure that the most important
member of the colony, made it safely into the soils and didn’t stumble into the waters
only to be eaten by our water beasts or something. I didn’t know how long the moving process
would take, but I knew it wasn’t going to be quick. And now the waiting game was to begin: a long,
dragged out process to find the queen ant. I wasn’t sure when she would be moving out,
which tube she’d be coming out of, or if I’d even be able to spot her again. I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. But, little did I know, what was about to
happen from here on in was an experience I’d never forget! Please SUBSCRIBE to the channel, and hit the
BELL icon. Welcome to the AC Family! Enjoy! This was going to be a mission and a half! Can you imagine having to spot the elusive
queen of a massive fire ant colony of hundreds of thousands of fire ants, who all want nothing
more than to hide her from sight? This was the ultimate ‘Where’s Waldo’
challenge! It’s actually been literal months since
I’d seen the queen ant of the Phoenix Empire, whom we, the AC Family, have named the Ember
Empress, and that was way back in the colony’s infancy, when she and the entire colony moved
into their first soil ant farm. After that we never saw her again no matter
how hard we tried to look for her! But now that the colony was moving into their
first grand paludarium, I knew, at some point, our royal Ember Empress would have to be moved
into the soils of their new home, and this was my one and last chance to actually spot
our royal fire ant VIP, or VIA rather, as she moved through the tubes, because after
this move into these great territories, we’ll probably never ever get to see her again. Plus, more importantly for the well-being
of the colony, we needed to make sure she made it into one of the floating mountains
ok, because if anything happened to her, we’d pretty much have to say goodbye to the Phoenix
Empire, because the ants can’t create a new queen once their main queen dies. The big question, however, was this: Which
of the four exit points, attached to four separate sections of their old home, would
the queen be emerging from? Would she be emerging from this tube on Mt.
Juno from Hell’s Kitchen, or this tube on Mt. Venus from the Fire Fortress, this tube
on Mt. Minerva from the Magma Chambers, or this tube on Mt. Vulcan from the Maze of Flames. I only had one pair of eyes and one high quality
HD macro camera, vs tonnes and tonnes of fire ants, pouring in from four different locations,
and a move which could have taken days. Basically, the odds were against me, guys! But, I was willing to commit to the search,
and what ended up happening during this move, was truly one of the hardest things I’ve
ever had to endure, and wait for in my life, and I can’t wait to show you what incredible
things I saw and filmed, so keep on watching until the end! So I’ll tell you my guess, as to where the
queen was hiding and would be emerging from, as well as what all of you guys guessed, when
I asked you in a community tab post, but before all of that, there was some very important
order of business to take care of first! Check this out, guys! You’ll love this! The ants were now in Phase One of the move,
which was the construction of nest tunnels and chambers, within the soils of the floating
mountains. You see, the ants needed ample nest space,
to accommodate all the brood and their royal queen into the territories, so needless to
say the ants were busy. It was pretty hilarious watching some of the
ants carrying debris around, looking desperately for a place to dump the pieces. Check out this ant, carrying a huge piece
of soil debris, as it scaled the cliff side of Mt. Venus. Oh, where would she be putting that huge piece? Hmmm. Oh, there she goes disappearing on the other
side of the mountain. Boo! Guess we’ll never know. Some clumsier ants fell into the waters below
but I wasn’t worried. Fire ants float, and instinctively know to
swim to each other to form living rafts, after which they would paddle collectively towards
the closest land mass. So as you can see, this move into the Ember
Islands was a very physically demanding task for the ants. I mean, imagine having to move and construct
an entire city over the course of days, having to dig, race down expansive root bridges,
travel relentlessly over rough and unforgiving terrain, swim, and eventually transport the
brood, all while being prepared to mobilize at any moment in case any emergency were to
arise. So, I decided now was a great time to give
the Phoenix Empire a little carbo boost to power these critical activities. I offered the ants some sweet jelly cups,
of their favourite flavours, as we saw in a past experiment episode: brown sugar flavour
which I placed into Mt. Jupiter, some strawberry flavoured jelly, which I placed onto the rock
shelf, and some white sugar flavoured jelly which I placed onto Mt. Pluto. It wasn’t long before the ants came to swarm
around the jelly cups to consume all of that delicious sugary food. They gorged themselves on the jelly, filling
up their social stomachs so they could go back to the masses and feed the others via
trophallaxis, mouth to mouth. And on the way back to the colony, they would
be sure leave a pheromone trail along the way so other ants could come help with grabbing
the sweet goods. Man, I just loved watching them trail along
the root system! Look at how excited the ants were here to
discover the brown sugar cup on Mt. Jupiter! It was clear these valuable carbs were exactly
what the ants needed right now. Soon ants swarmed all three cups and I was
happy to know they were getting the energy they needed. I was absolutely spellbound by the sight! Look at them! OK, and now to face the big challenge ahead
of finding the queen ant. Ember Empress, where were you? As mentioned, this was gunna be hard because
I wasn’t sure how long I would have to wait for the ants to move the queen in. It could take hours; it could take days; it
could take over a week even! Usually I would just set everything up, go
to sleep, and just assume the queen moved in once the formicariums were empty. But in this case, because the ants didn’t
exactly have a safety zone where I could just leave the tube, since their landing points
were suspended high up in the skies, some over water, I absolutely needed to be there
to make sure the queen safely made it into one of these mountains. And, in case you were wondering why I couldn’t
just allow the ants to exit onto the rock shelf below for maximum safety, it’s because
first, I didn’t want the queen to have to travel such a far distance out in the open,
and have to climb the mountains or branches and finally into some soil. Plus, she could still slip and fall into the
water which is partially ok because she can swim, but it might cause extra strain for
her if she fell in alone without her cohort to escort her by, plus there was that chance
that our water beasts might decide to make a meal out of her, particularly our betta. I had no choice but to wait, and watch, no
matter how long it would take! If it took days, I would need to stay awake
for days, or at least as long as I could manage, if I were to realistically spot her. I couldn’t have friends come over to do
surveillance shifts, because my city is still under lockdown and my building didn’t allow
non-residents into the premises. I was in this alone, guys! Now, on top of all this, as if this wasn’t
hard enough, as I said before, there was this added challenge that she could be emerging
from any of these four points, and as embarrassing as it is to say, I only had one 4K macro camera,
so I had to choose which of the four tubes to fixate my camera lens into, in order to
film the queen passing by up close. I, of course, could still survey all four
tubes myself for a fat queen moving through, but I thought, hey wouldn’t it be a great
thing if we could capture her grand entry in 4K, so all of us could actually watch the
queen up close and personal, moving into these grounds? I thought so. I also had my cell phone on hand to film her
moving in case she moved through a tube we didn’t fixate my camera to, and though macro
wasn’t as good, at least we could catch her on video! Alright, so the idea then was to attach my
macro camera to the tube I felt the queen was most likely going to pass through. It’s an intricate setup that takes around
5 minutes to assemble, and involves disconnection of tubes, so once it was set in place, I couldn’t
really change tubes fast enough if I ever spotted her moving through another tube. Once our lens was set, it would likely have
to remain there, as it would be hard to switch tubes afterward. So let me show you guys now where I believed
the Queen was hiding, as well as where you guys felt she was most likely living. I must say great minds, think alike! Luckily, I managed to film the four sections
of the colony before the move, so let’s look first at Hell’s Kitchen, the colony’s
ac Outworld from antscanada.com. This area had the most soil in it, but I felt
the queen was most likely not in here because before the move I had poured a lot of water
into the soils so I didn’t think much brood or the queen was living here. Fire ants like moist nests but they don’t
like swampy nests. This, here, was the Magma Chambers, the colony’s
ac Hybrid Nest Mini ant farm, which was indeed filled with a lot of brood. I made sure to scan this footage carefully
to look for signs of the queen, but there’s one thing you might notice about this part
of their territories, and let’s see if you guys notice it too. Did you guys see something interesting? All of the brood here are either mature larvae
or pupae. It’s the older kids of the colony in this
section of the nest. This to me meant that the queen was probably
not here, because then we’d be seeing piles of eggs and young larvae somewhere. Looking into the Maze of Flames, the colony’s
massive ac Hybrid Nest Camponotus ant farm, which also had tonnes of brood packed into
its chambers, after looking around, though I did spot a pile of medium-sized larvae,
over there, it didn’t look like there were lots of them nor did I spot any really young
larvae or eggs, so this to me meant the queen was probably not here, either, unless they
were concealing her and her youngest brood in this soiled covered part here. But now looking at the last section of their
nest, the Fire Fortress, the colony’s ac Ant Tower, which was currently one huge chamber
of brood. It was kind of hard to see, but I thought
I did see some young larvae piled around. Eggs could possibly be hidden here, too. Could our Ember Empress be living here in
the Fire Fortress? It was after all the colony’s very first
legit ant farm, moving out of their birth test tube. Could the queen have remained in this protected
sanctuary for all these months? If I had to guess, yes, the Ember Empress
was most likely living here in the Fire Fortress meaning whenever she did decide to move out,
she’d be emerging from the tube onto Mt. Venus! And, low and behold, after asking all of you
in a community tab post, you guys also felt our Ember Empress would be emerging from the
Fire Fortress onto Mt. Venus! Even members of the great and all mighty AC
Senate, whom you guys will see standing among you in the comments as they sport various
coloured badges beside their names (so be sure to greet these dignified members of the
Antiverse with a simple “BOW” if you’re lucky enough to be in their presence), felt
that the Ember Empress would be emerging from the Fire Fortress, as well! Perfect! I set up our camera to the tube leading to
Mt. Venus, and got comfortable because I knew this would be an epic wait. Through the night, I watched the ants traveling
up and down the tubes, and along the roots. I tried my best to stay awake and drink a
tonne of coffee, as I looked for signs of the queen. And then I saw it! Brood! The ants had finally moved on to their next
phase of the emigration! They were now moving in the brood! The shipping in of the brood meant that the
ants had built the sufficient nest chambers to accommodate them, and signified that at
any time the queen would be moving in, as well. Look at the ants go! Now all I needed to do was wait for the queen. 1 hour went by, 2 hours went by, three hours,
four hours, five hours, six hours. This whole time, I made sure to flick my eyes
over to the other three tubes, as much as I could, just in case our bets were wrong. But inside, I felt she just had to be in the
Fire Fortress! 7 hrs. 8 hrs. 9 hrs. Still no queen. At this point I was super sleepy, but I had
to stay awake and keep checking al the tubes! 10 hrs. 11 hrs. 12 hrs. By the 13th hour, the sun was up the next
day and I had pulled the most epic all-nighter of my life! I remember the adrenaline was pumping through
my blood the whole time, so the night kind of wafted by in a blur, but I was still watchful
as ever the whole time, and you gotta remember, I was filming this all in 4K so I had to constantly
switch out my memory cards, dump the footage onto a hard drive, and rotate my camera batteries
as they died out through the night. 14 hrs. 15 hrs. 16 hrs, and 17 hrs. Still no queen. By the 18th hr, I had nearly lost all hope. Perhaps she slipped into the territories through
one of the other tubes without me catching her. A part of me was about to quit, but I couldn’t
ignore a voice within me that told me to not give up to stay up for just that extra 20
minutes or so. I needed and wanted so badly to see our Ember
Empress, especially since this would be the final time we’d probably ever get to see
her, and I kept imagining to myself how awesome a video it would be if we could film this
colossal moment in the history of the Phoenix Empire! Plus, it would be just tragic if the queen
were to fall and die during this move. I summoned up all my strength to keep pushing! I somehow managed to make it to hour 19, and
then as I began to drift away somewhere by the 20th hour, after being awake for almost
26 hours straight executing this emigration, something happened that I will never ever
forget. Take a look at who decided to finally slip
through our tube. AC Family, let’s take a bow, as she passes
by. Behold, the one and only great Ember Empress. As she slipped by, I felt such joy. Had I not been looking, I probably would have
missed her as she lay so close to the ground, obscured by masses of ants swarming around
hoping to hide her from view! It must have been my sleepy stupor, but the
sight brought a tear to my eye, as I was suddenly taken back to all the memories we shared,
raising this beloved fire ant colony together with so much love, from just this pregnant
Ember Empress in a test tube. I watched wide-eyed as the Ember Empress emerged
from the tube, escorted by a blanket of Phoenix Empire workers, climbing up the side of Mt.
Venus, and plunging crown first, into the depths of its soils. After months of looking for her, AC Family,
we successfully saw her, and it was likely going to be the last time we’d ever get
to see her again. I was exhausted, my voice hoarse, but in my
heart, I was oh so grateful for this! And just like that, the most important member
of the Phoenix Empire was in and safe, and so began a new chapter of the Phoenix Empire’s
story, a new age within these great lands we call, the Ember Islands. Life for the Phoenix Empire was going to be
a whole new level of epic from here on in! AC Family, did you enjoy today’s episode? Did you guys guess which tube she’d be emerging
from correctly? Be sure to tune in next week to see how well
the Phoenix Empire manages living in their new kingdom. Will they adapt well to their new life in
the floating mountains of the Ember Islands? Don’t miss the continuation of this story,
so if you haven’t yet do SMASH that SUBSCRIBE button and BELL ICON now, and hit ALL so you
get notified at every upload. Also don’t forget to hit the LIKE button
every single time including now. It would really mean a lot to me, guys. Thank you! AC Inner Colony, I have left a hidden cookie
for you here, if you would like to see extended play footage of our Phoenix Empire feasting
on their jelly cups. It’s actually their first meal in the lands
so do check it out! And guys, did you know that it’s anting
season in the Northern Hemisphere, and you don’t even need to leave your home to start
an ant colony?! You can catch pregnant queen ants from the
safety of your own backyard, balcony, or open window starting this month! Be sure to visit AntsCanada.com for all your
ant keeping and collecting gear shipped to you in a special package from our ant-loving
facility in the USA, so you can get the most out of your ant keeping experience. We ship worldwide and also offer full email
support if you need our help! We also have a helpful forum and ant colony
trading marketplace on the site. Visit AntsCanada.com today. And now it’s time for the AC Question of
the Week. Last week, we asked: Which floating mountain is your favourite
and why? Congratulations to Xander DeWolfe who answered: My favorite is probably Mt. Jupiter
because it is very nice and beautiful and will be useful for the ants. Congratulations Xander, you just won a free
Ultimate Ant Keeping Handbook from our shop! In this week’s AC Question of the Week we
ask: Why did we need to spot the queen
moving into the Ember Islands? Leave your answer in the comments section
and you could also win a free Ultimate Ant Keeping Handbook from our shop! Hope you could 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!
