12 replies to this topic

[William. T]

My three year old brother is quite an alchemist. While most the time he makes disgusting mixtures Iike yogurt-water-cooking oil, today he made a mix of soda, apple juice, popsicle, yogurt,, and left outside as he is quite irresponsible. When I return from school, the glass was swarming with Sessile. The whole thing was black from the number of workers! I have even gotten such a reaction from any wild ants. After reading Dr. Miller's post on his "ant mead," should I feed this to my T. Sessile?

 

[Foogoo]

That sounds like something Tapinoma would go crazy for, I say try it!

[William. T]

I did. They loved it. I am thinking of making batches of sugar-honey and setting them in the sun to ferment, on my large stone patio, which is like a frying pan. I will report the successes.

[Foogoo]

Why let it ferment? I'd be afraid of that leading to spoilage/mold.

[William. T]

According to Dr. Miller, it creates the ideal "ant crack." I will remove the food after the ants are fed to remove mold.

[kellakk]

Fermentation would happen better out of the sun.  UV rays will kill the bacteria/fungi that you'd want to be in there.

[drtrmiller]

To my knowledge, no fermented beverages are made with sun exposure.  

 

I have my small batch in a large container in a temperature controlled room.  The temperature should be 70-75 degrees, and fermentation takes about 15 days.  Higher temperatures will speed up fermentation, but may produce off flavors.

 

The stuff my ants loved had been sitting around far longer than that, and so I would expect the best receptivity to start around the 4-5 week mark.  Also, it's important not to shake, slosh, or otherwise introduce too much air into the mixture, else you'll end up oxidizing it.

 

The process and end product is more similar to a wine than a distilled spirit.

[William. T]

To my knowledge, no fermented beverages are made with sun exposure.  

 

I have my small batch in a large container in a temperature controlled room.  The temperature should be 70-75 degrees, and fermentation takes about 15 days.  Higher temperatures will speed up fermentation, but may produce off flavors.

 

The stuff my ants loved had been sitting around far longer than that, and so I would expect the best receptivity to start around the 4-5 week mark.  Also, it's important not to shake, slosh, or otherwise introduce too much air into the mixture, else you'll end up oxidizing it.

 

The process and end product is more similar to a wine than a distilled spirit.

My un air conditioned rooms are at 80+ degrees. Would placing sugar or honey water in a sealed pickle jar and putting that into the dark work?

[drtrmiller]

Maybe...that's similar to what I'm doing.  The only problem is that I don't know what organisms are living in mine.  You may need to add some type of yeast—and not the type you get at the grocery store.

[Roachant]

If there is no way to release the pressure from the jar, it may explode from CO2 production.

[Foogoo]

My un air conditioned rooms are at 80+ degrees. Would placing sugar or honey water in a sealed pickle jar and putting that into the dark work?

 

I say try adding some sugar and/or fruit juice. After all, that's how prison wine is made. Not that I would know...

[Gregory2455]

Sounds like an okay mix minus the soda, and whatever else may be an ingredient in those others that may be negative.

[William. T]

Sounds like an okay mix minus the soda, and whatever else may be an ingredient in those others that may be negative.

 

 

To my knowledge, no fermented beverages are made with sun exposure.  

 

I have my small batch in a large container in a temperature controlled room.  The temperature should be 70-75 degrees, and fermentation takes about 15 days.  Higher temperatures will speed up fermentation, but may produce off flavors.

 

The stuff my ants loved had been sitting around far longer than that, and so I would expect the best receptivity to start around the 4-5 week mark.  Also, it's important not to shake, slosh, or otherwise introduce too much air into the mixture, else you'll end up oxidizing it.

 

The process and end product is more similar to a wine than a distilled spirit.

My un air conditioned rooms are at 80+ degrees. Would placing sugar or honey water in a sealed pickle jar and putting that into the dark work?

 

My post mentions putting in honey water and sugar water. I am thinking of adding apple juice, to make something like cider.