The ants are kind to their queen. They feed her and pet her, and she becomes very lazy. She does not even care to lay her eggs in a nice clean place.
The idle queen drops her eggs anywhere. The kind worker ants pick them up, and take them to a soft bedroom.
When there are too many young queens in one hill, they do not have a war, as the bees do. The workers settle the trouble, by taking off the wings of some of the young queens, and turning them into work ants. This is done before the queens begin to lay eggs.
New-born ants and queens, who do not go out into the sunshine, are of a light color. The other ants are dark.
In cold, wet weather the ants stay at home. If a rain comes up when they are out, they hurry back. Early in the day, and late in the afternoon, they all seem to be very busy. In the hot hours of the day they stay in the hill and rest.
In very hot lands the ants stir about all winter. Such ants lay up stores of food. You shall hear of them by and by. In cooler lands, during winter, the ants are asleep, or, as we say, are torpid.
The young swarms usually go out in autumn. I have seen very large swarms in the spring.
Ants like sugar and honey best of all food. They get honey from flowers, and in other ways of which I will soon tell you. Some like seeds which have a sweet taste. For this reason they eat some kinds of grass-seeds, oats, apple-seeds, and such things.
Ants take their food by licking it. Their little rough tongues wear away bits of the seed; they also suck up the oil and juice. They seem to press the food with their jaws.
It has been found out that they know how to moisten their food and make it soft. If you give them dry sugar or cake, they turn it into a kind of paste or honey. Then it is easier to suck or drink it up.