keeping ants warm

[elitzchupa]

Since I'm not allowed to keep the ants in the house, they are residing in an ant store starterset in the garage. Tonight is a very cold night, do you think they will be okay?

They are a colony of myrmica rubra of about 60 that I have just obtained. Is there a way that I can keep them warmer outside as I would like to see the colony grow but with these temperatures it will be hard.

I'm living in Kent so the weather and temperatures are always changing.

[Wood~Ant]

If you have no heating in your garage, just wrap the set up in good old newspaper as this is perfect insulation against the cold. They are native ants and are used to our cold winters, so as long as they do not freeze they should be fine.

[gamble]

If there's an outlet out in the garage you can plug in those reptile wire heaters and place it on the nest. If not then you can put hot water in a 2 liter soda bottle wrapped in a towel and place it a safe distance near the nest. It warms up pretty nicely in cold weather. I also had a time where I couldn't keep ants in the house so I can relate.

[Jenny]

Polystyrene and bubble wrap are also insulators.