For the most part, the ants sleep 
through the winter, staying down in the 
winter living rooms deep in the ant city 
where it is warmer. When spring comes 
again, most of them are still alive and 
well. The dead are carried above ground 
to the ant cemetery. The living ants go 
out into the sunshine and fresh air to 
work and grow strong again after their 
long stay underground. 
CLOSE RELATIVES 
This is the story of only one ant hill. 
It tells very little of all there is to know 
about the ant kingdom. There are about 
thirteen thousand different kinds of ants! 
They live in many different parts of the 
world and on many different kinds of 
food. Some eat living insects. Some eat 
dead ones. Some eat fruit, and some 
eat vegetables or grain. Some even eat 
tiny mushrooms that they grow in under¬ 
ground gardens. What the ants eat 
44 
