2 ANTS AND CHILDREN OF THE GARDEN 



would hardly have let her come back unless they were out 

 of queens. 



FLORENCE. Your queens are one-half longer than 

 your largest workers and have wings one-half longer than 

 their own bodies, but how about queens of other ants? 



ANT. The queens of some ants are much smaller than 

 the workers, while those of some others are so large you 

 wouldn't know what they are. Small queens sometimes lay 

 their first eggs in the old home. 



KENNETH. Some people say that small queens may 

 take a part of the old colony along when she leaves to 

 start a new home. You know, the queen bee does this. 



ALBERT. Where does a queen make her first nest? 



ANT. In many cases a queen makes her nest in sand or 

 soft earth, or finds a suitable earth crack, or gets under a 

 stone, or under the sidewalk. Yet, sometimes she has hard 

 mining to do. Generally she goes down only two or three 

 inches. 



FLORENCE. If a queen should lose her wings before 

 flying away, would the workers drive her away, anyhow? 

 We thought your ants did. 



ANT. Oh, she might be readopted and be permitted to 

 lay her eggs in the old nest and continue to live there. 

 You see, that some colonies have been known to use the 

 same nest forty years and new queens would have to be 

 gotten, either from their own colonies or from others. 

 They would prefer to adopt a queen from another colony. 



DOROTHY. I saw one of your ants drag a winged 

 queen out on her back by her front legs. After an effort, 

 she turned over and ran back into the house. Then she 

 walked out herself, but again went back. 



FLORENCE. How long could a queen go without eating 



