I've always loved the idea of the sandwich-style nests that allow ants to tunnel while still remaining visible. I'm making one now for a new Pheidole colony I have coming in the mail.
Picked up a handful of €2 photo frames (A4 paper size) and broke out my glass cutter. After many, many failed attempts at cutting the super thin side pieces, I gave up and cut some thick strips of plastic. I used the trusty method of "silicone the living heck out of it" to make it water-and-Pheidole-proof.
For my first attempt, it certainly could have been worse. It holds water in a little reservoir at the bottom, and my existing Pheidole colony have already started making their tunnels.
![20230607_141339.jpg](https://www.formiculture.com/uploads/monthly_06_2023/post-6225-0-17185400-1686140965.jpg)
![20230607_141346.jpg](https://www.formiculture.com/uploads/monthly_06_2023/post-6225-0-50768900-1686140985.jpg)
![20230607_141354.jpg](https://www.formiculture.com/uploads/monthly_06_2023/post-6225-0-64034200-1686141012.jpg)
But there's a handful of flaws.
First off, the side pieces are bigger than I'd like, giving the nest a width of 1.5cm - for a tiny species, this is too big IMO.
Second, how the heck are you supposed to properly silicone the inside when it's SO thin? I placed the silicone, then set the glass. But it needs to be smoothed down to be water/Pheidole-tight. I ended up using a metal chopstick dipped in soapy water to smooth the silicone against the glass. But it seemed impossible to avoid smearing silicone up the inside when I needed to add more, and when removing the chopstick. I was not able to clean all the smeared silcione off the inside, so there are some blurry areas.
I'm starting my second attempt now. I did some research, and finally found a way to cut super thin strips of glass. These are just under 1cm, so when the nest is put together it should be about 1cm wide. That solves problem 1.
![20230607_141436.jpg](https://www.formiculture.com/uploads/monthly_06_2023/post-6225-0-49642100-1686140911.jpg)
But problem 2, I have no idea how to fix. How can you silicone the inside without smearing/making a mess of it? There must be a way, because some companies make these nests from glass...any ideas?