I was splitting up a hickory tree and found a colony of BIG black ants inside a hidden dead section. Biggest I've ever seen in Virginia - ants honestly up to an inch long. It was a cold day so they stayed bunched up in nasty tight balls of ants. Usually ants fall off of (or out of) logs and vacate when I am splitting so the splits wind up more or less ant-free. But these guys stayed put. I didn't want them wintering over in my woodpile so I put the infested splits in a big bucket. I figured they would start stirring, fall out and die on the following cold days. But nope, after several nights of below-20 weather they are still balled up and still alive.
At this point I am now more intrigued than worried (although still disgusted) and keep checking on them. I can also see a mass of white eggs down below them further in the crevice they inhabit. I know I could give them a shot of some napalm but was expecting the cold to get rid of then naturally. I wonder just how cold it has to be?!?!
At this point I am now more intrigued than worried (although still disgusted) and keep checking on them. I can also see a mass of white eggs down below them further in the crevice they inhabit. I know I could give them a shot of some napalm but was expecting the cold to get rid of then naturally. I wonder just how cold it has to be?!?!
