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by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Like over 20,000,000 kids nationwide and not a few adults, I had an ant farm. My brother Kevin had one, too; being intensely competitive we couldn't share just one. In the next generation, my discerning nephew Kyle also got one. Being so bright, he managed to get his at age 4 or so. He used the simple expedient of grabbing one in a variety store and refused to put it back on the shelf, threatening total mayhem and general ear-piercing shrieks if denied. He loved it even more than we did.
The fellow all of us had to thank for countless hours of absorbing fun, hands-on instruction, and unabashed admiration was Milton Levine, a man who turned an incident at a 1946 California picnic into a multi-million dollar enterprise.
The incident in question was one we have all had. Levine was at his sister's, pool side, when he noticed a conga-line of ants moving inexorably from their hill to Levine's 4th of July spread. Industrious to a fault, these critters were doing what they do best, engineering a take-over of supplies.
Levine had seen ants before, but he had never perceived ants before, never much thought of them except as pests; (that's the feeling that comes first). But, eureka, he had that "aha!" moment that all ant lovers have... and all entrepreneurs, too.
He remembered how as a boy on his uncle's farm in Pennsylvania he had collected ants in a jar. He thought that other children would find them as supremely fascinating as he did. He confided this insight to his brother-in-law E.J. Cossman and, as things developed, proposed a partnership.
It was a shrewd choice. Cossman was an incipient mail order wizard...
Uncle Milton's Ant Farm was the result.
It caught on at once which admittedly was a surprise to Uncle Milton and his brother-in-law, but not to the ants themselves. They knew just how fascinating and irresistible they are.
Although never surveyed on the matter, the ants recruited by Uncle Milton definitely liked the homey environment he created for them: a bucolic panorama of a farmhouse (the kind of place where Levine had grown up). The farmhouse sat beside a winding path to a barn and windmill above a warren of ant tunnels, all encased in plastic. The whole package was just 6-by-9 inches. It was enough to showcase an entire civilization, a whole world. Boys worldwide (for it was overwhelmingly a "boy thing") had it in their bedrooms... and stopping by to check it out would stay for hours, engrossed.
And the whole kit and caboodle set you back just $1.98.
Soon, very soon, the partners were selling thousands of farms a week. Clever, if folksy, television ads drove the sales as children just home from school discovered the ant's world was even more interesting than their previously favorite shows.
The star of this show was the California red ant, Pogonomyrmex californicus. This is an iconic ant of deserts and other arid habitats in North and South America. These conspicuous insects are normally granivorous, playing ecologically important roles as scavengers and seed dispersers. Pogonomyrmex is also known for having a uniquely painful sting. I wonder how many youths discovered this notable fact on their own... Most members of the genus Pogonomyrmex have a basket-like structure on the underside of their head made from long hairs. Called the psammophore, it helps the ants carry loose sand in low-humidity climates where sand grains do not stick together easily.
But, as in all businesses, there were quite distinctive problems to overcome. Setting up was cumbersome. You purchased the farm, then sent a coupon to the company which got you a vial containing 25 worker ants. This took several weeks, and the ants occasionally arrived -- dead.
What about the all-important queen? Here was the real problem. Federal law prohibited shipments of queen ants across state lines, no mating ensued on the farms, so another vial of ants had to be ordered within a few months... unless the owner captured some in the backyard.
And what did the ants eat and drink? More work for you! Here's what the company's website says:
Western Harvester ants enjoy small pieces of fruits and vegetables, the fresher the better. So, apples, lettuce, carrot, granola and celery will really please your ants. Don't overfeed the ants. They only need 1 or 2 small pieces every three days. Remove any uneaten food with tweezers to keep mold from growing in the ant farm that could harm your ants.
Now, just as important as the question, “What do ants eat?” is the question, “What do ants drink?” Just like pretty much every other creature – mammal, insect, reptile, amphibian, etc – on earth, ants need water to survive. However, they do not need very much. To give your ants water, you simply need to give them a few drops each day. The sand in the ant farm should not be saturated. In fact, you need to make sure that the water does not pool on top of the surface, otherwise your ants may drown. If you mix in a little sugar with their water once a week, your ants will love you. It will make them busy little beavers, so to speak – you have not seen energy until you have seen some ants with a sugar buzz!
But, in the end, despite its onerous aspects, the ants carried the day and made the ant farm a huge success. Said Milton Levine, "Most novelties, if they last one season, it's a lot. If they last two years, it's a phenomenon. To last this long is unheard of." In 2010, Uncle Milton Industries, based in Westlake Village, California was sold to the Transom Capital Group for over $20,000,000.
Levine summed up his relationship to Pogonomyrmex californicus thus: "I found out their most amazing feat yet. They put three kids through college"... and gave the rest of us countless hours of congenial visiting and learning. They are, after all, highly attractive and entrancing creatures.
For lovers of ants, and they are legion, the books of Harvard professor E.O. Wilson are key. Check out "Lord of the Ants" and (with Bert Holldobler) "The Ants." Years ago Prof. Wilson took time from his busy schedule to draw an ant for my 4 year old nephew Kyle and inserted it into an autographed copy of his book. He's a true gentleman and scholar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPvGmUMp60o&NR=1&feature=fvwp.
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Dr. Lant is also an American historian and author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author's permission by Lawrence Rinke http://ActionEqualsProfit.com.
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