Every time we visit StarGarAllot we seem to get the most beautiful weather, so all creamed up (suncream not whipped) the 5 of us got to work. Today's task seemed simple enough, we were creating another bed for planting - but wait what is this? It would appear to be a LOAD of red ants.....time to call ANT MAN.

Carefully, we began our digging as the ants scurried away taking the ant eggs with them back into the caverns of their nest under the community gardens. We were double digging the plot, to help loosen and aerate the soil ready for the stargaral-Lot to start their planting without the need for to much future digging. Before too long a mound had appeared which did give the look of a freshly dug grave - RIP Red Ants....although I think most survived the dig.

Unfortunately as we dug the plot we did hit a snag of a GIANT rock, at first thinking we might be able to dig it out but after Sean, Ben and Michael went feral and started digging at the rock with their (gloved) hands it was realised that this beast went deep. So we let Camilla know, buried it back under the ground and finished off the new plot ready for planting.

ANT FACTS

What are ants?

Did you know that most ants that you see are probably female?

Ants are eusocial insects related to bees and wasps (Hymenoptera). They live in nests that contain many hundreds and sometimes thousands of ants. Most are wingless sterile females, known as workers, but there will also be fertile females, known as queen ants.

Ants have a caste system, where responsibilities are divided. The queen is the founder of the colony, and her role is to lay eggs. Workers tasks range from caring for the queen and the young, foraging, policing conflicts in the colony, and waste disposal. Workers will most likely never have their own offspring. The vast majority of eggs develop as workers, but once the colony is ready the queen produces the next generation of reproductives which will go on to start own colonies.

A female ant’s fate to become a worker or queen is mainly determined by diet, not genetics. Any female ant larva can become the queen – those that do receive diets richer in protein. The other larvae receive less protein, which causes them to develop as workers.

More than 30 species of ant are found in Britain, a few of these can occur in gardens, including the familiar black garden ant, Lasius niger.