are you sure you aren’t thinking of formicanada? He’s another guy in toronto who is known for fraudulent permits and scamming peopleMy reputation in this community doesn't matter to me, so I don't mind bringing up what I have heard.. However I don't wanna call out other people. I will say this, I have no actual proof and am more curious than actually accusing as I have no dog in this race, but from what I have heard you get a LOT of illegal European ants and have a bunch at your home. Again, I won't say this is true, but you need to check your circle cause these people (say they) know you and are saying this, and they say they even live near you. I have only been anting since late 2022 and 2 of the 4 groups I have been in on Discord regarding ants specifically had folks who mentioned this. One of them even mentioned having gotten some from your home collection.Hi there!Isn't that the company that the kid Zack is constantly bringing in illegal ants and selling them for a fortune and doesn't care for the colonies, customers but only money? I have heard plenty enough from other Canadians about him. He also uses his pull to spread lies about smaller Canadian companies to keep them down, all the while doing what he claims they're doing. I'm actually shocked you back them, and I find it hard to believe you wouldn't know about that stuff.Canada ant colony
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I am Zach, and this is the first time I'm hearing of these rumors as well. Could you let me know (preferably via DM) where you're hearing this from?
Legality-wise, it is true that I do import ants from outside of Canada, and I have all the respective permits required, both from the US and from Canada. Canada Ant Colony Import Permits - Google Drive. <- I have a google drive of most of my relevant import permits here.
I can send pdfs of the US permits on request. For many species, we're the first, but not the only people importing them. I know a couple other vendors or even competitors who do the same, but I'm on pretty good terms with most of the sellers I know in Canada. I think Por Amor Art, FormiStudio, AntsOntario, Nugs Bugs, etc could attest to this. I can also show records of my inspections with the government to prove the legality issue.
I have no idea what I could do to respond to the allegation that I sell ants for a fortune nor that I don't care for them. For many of the species of ants I sell, I regularly have colonies for sale up to sizes of 50-100 workers. Many Canadian ant-keepers sell ants to me, and by far most of them sell colonies to me as single queens, and I think that I have larger colonies for sale would be evidence that I care for them.
To be fair, I don't personally care for most of my colonies as of this year-- I had to move for college fall 2022 and most of the care currently is being managed by employees, retail partners (e.g. pet stores who stock our items), and family who help me (though this will change as soon as I finish moving everything out completely). Based on the progress I see, I can promise that the ants themselves are doing fine. In the future (within the next couple months) there will be a visitable facility which should lend more credibility to the claim. I'll follow up in a bit in this post by editing this post with photos of colonies we're currently rearing.
Normally we offer a 1-month minimum guarantee (assuming that the ants are cared for properly) even after receipt. In a lot of cases (some community members can attest to this, we will offer partial credit if colonies suddenly lose their queen, at times up to 4 months after receipt). Our returning customer rate for the past month has been roughly 41%.
I think the largest reason for dissatisfaction is probably due to our winter shipping policies, which requires a 13$ heat pack + insulation charge + Xpresspost shipping to guarantee DOAs during the winter.
There's a couple Canadian discord servers and facebook groups that are 500+ members strong that could probably speak on my behalf, and most of the people on AAK and AKE probably don't have that much negative to say either.
A lot of folks in the states will argue that my prices are overpriced, which is fair, since my prices are expensive relative to US prices, but I suspect that currency conversion, having to accomodate for pet stores, and paying import/export costs on US to Canada factors into that more than people think. (I was quoted $850 USD to ship/clear a Miami to Toronto package just last week on Camponotus castaneus), in addition to the 150 paid on permit fees already.I'm happy to respond to any specific questions, although anything non-store related should go in DMs. Separately, I'm going to give a +1 to byFormica, I find that he's been by far the easiest to work with and the most accomodating, plus I think the products he makes are pretty consistently great
Edit:
Myrmica americana colonies all raised from single queens collected in September-November 2023 (we have roughly 75 of them). They are fed on a diet of fruit flies, crickets, mealworms, Sunburst nectar, dyed green sugar water, chicken, egg yolk, and (currently testing) various seeds and nuts
If these rumors are untrue, I apologize for even bringing it up, HOWEVER, that being said.. I still highly recommend looking at some of your close friends.
Edited by Manitobant, April 20 2023 - 4:46 PM.
